The road ahead
by Reader101w
Summary: Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them. Starts during the end of 'So the Drama'.
1. Not the end

Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them. This story has been on my mind for some time, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did (and do) writing.

**Disclaimer:** Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Special thanks to _Kwebs _for beta reading.

**

* * *

The road ahead**

**Chapter 1: Not the end**

_I know we've been friends forever…_

Kim and Ron slowly danced as the music played; the Diablo sitch forgotten, Eric a long gone memory, Bonnie's snide remarks not even registered. The world consisted of only them, dancing, looking into each other's eyes, kissing…

"Alright, that's enough," Mr. Barkin's voice burst the bubble surrounding the teens, "You saved the world, but let's not push it, shall we?"

Kim and Ron looked up and noticed the music had stopped and most of the other students had left; they hadn't even noticed.

For a moment Kim was sure she saw a hint of a smile on the large vice principal's face, but Mr. Barkin quickly recomposed himself and looked sternly at them.

"Prom's over, and unless you're part of the cleanup crew, you better head home before your parents start worrying."

"Actually, I am…" Kim started, but Barkin interrupted her, "Cleanup doesn't start until 7:30 AM sharp. And you're excused," he added in a softer voice, "The two of you did more than your fair share this evening… get some rest and heal up."

"Was Mr. Barkin being… kind?" Ron wondered out loud as he and Kim walked out of the gym building, still holding hands.

"Yeah, weird huh?" Kim smiled as she grabbed Ron's other hand as well, "So… wanna head home?"

"Yeah, I think so…" Ron fidgeted, a bit uncomfortable, "I'm not so good with this, I don't really have much experience having… well, a girlfriend… can you help me here a bit?"

"Sure," Kim chuckled, "first, my boyfriend brings me home," she made sure to put emphasis on 'boyfriend' while she smiled warmly at Ron, "And then I call Monique and tell her everything… but I think she went home with Brick, so I'll probably call you and tell you everything," she added grinning.

"Phew, at least something stays the same," despite Ron's attempt of humor Kim noticed the painful twitch when she mentioned calling him.

Kim's eyes grew wide "Oh gosh! Every time I called you after one of my dates must have been…"

Ron put his finger on Kim's lips, "It's okay, we were just friends then. I didn't feel for you that way back then… at least, I didn't recognise those feelings… So, your home it is?"

"Yeah," Kim gladly accepted the change of subject, "You think you scooter is up for one more ride?"

The teens looked at the poor vehicle; it had given everything during the chase and even more during the ride to the Bueno Nacho headquarters. Kim thought it was a miracle the thing was still holding together.

"One more ride should be possible," Ron hesitantly said as he started the vehicle, it gave a few coughs but then started faithfully.

After a short ride, the teens arrived at Kim's home. Clearly her parents had been doing some cleaning up; most of the debris on the driveway was moved to the sides and the holes in the roof were covered with plastic sheets.

"It will be some time before this is all fixed," Kim said; not only her home, but a lot of the neighbourhood had sustained quite some damage from the Diablo attack. In fact, the whole world had suffered badly, even though the attack had been brief.

"Yeah," Ron nodded, "I'm just glad it's over now."

"Kimmie, Ronald," Kim's parents, after hearing the distinguishable sound of Ron's scooter, stepped outside, "How did the prom go? Did you get back in time? How did your classmates react?"

"One question at the time," Kim laughed, "Yes, we did get to the prom in time, and we had a great time," she grabbed Ron's hand, "And I think everybody approved."

"Minus one Bonnie, that is," Ron grinned goofily.

Kim frowned, "Well, Bonnie had it coming; it was her manipulation that almost made me lose you… I…" she interrupted herself with a wide yawn, "But I'm pretty tired right now, can we continue in the morning?"

"Sure honey," Mrs. Dr. Possible said, "You see Ron off and then get some rest, we'll head off to bed as well." She walked back into the house, dragging her husband with her.

Ron watched them leave, "I gather your dad still has some protectiveness issues?"

"That's what he's a dad for," Kim smiled, then she tenderly kissed Ron, "I'll see you tomorrow… boyfriend."

"Yeah…" Ron smiled dreamily and almost drove into the bushes as he left.

* * *

Kim woke up the next day to beams of sunlight shining in her face and groggily tried to turn over and get some more sleep.

"Oww," she groaned as her body protested; the mission soreness had finally kicked in, during Ron's late night call she had felt relatively fine. Of course, she'd also been half asleep then.

"Sleep in it is," Kim said to herself as she sank back into her cushion, but she had barely closed her eyes when a gentle knock on the door caught her attention.

"Who is it?"

"It's me," Kim's mother said through the door, "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Kim struggled to get up but gave up as her back muscles screamed in protest; courtesy of Shego's plasma bolts slamming her to the ground.

"How do you feel," Mrs. Dr. Possible asked as she came in carrying a tray with sandwiches and a glass of orange juice, "I thought you might be hungry, so brought in some breakfast."

"I'll give it an eight on the mission soreness scale," Kim said, "What time is it?"

"Almost eleven," her mother told, "you were out like a light when I checked up on you around nine."

"Thanks," Kim smiled as she worked herself in a sitting position and grabbed a sandwich and began eating; only now she noticed she was really hungry, not surprising considering she hadn't had anything to eat since before Eric had picked her up, not counting the few snacks she had at the prom.

Her mother sat down on the end of the bed, "So… you and Ron?"

"Yes mom," Kim rolled her eyes but smiled genuinely, "Your hopes came through, we're together."

"Well… I wouldn't say I didn't have any hopes…"

"But you had," Kim finished, grinning.

"I had," Anne Possible admitted with a wide smile, "I'm so happy for the two of you."

"So am I," Kim smiled, "but it will be weird though… don't you think? We've been best friends for so long, will hanging around now be dating? All the rules change…"

Mrs. Dr. Possible rolled her eyes, "I'm sure you will figure it out, is Ron coming over today?"

"Yeah, I think so," Kim said, "I'll call him, but first I need a hot bath."

"You'll have to use the downstairs bathroom," her mother told, "the plumbing for the upstairs bathroom is broken and we had to close it off."

"I have to use the Tweebs' bathroom?" Kim groaned, "That's just unfair."

* * *

Ron woke up feeling a lot better than Kim had; sure he too had some bruises, especially his throat hurt where Shego had cloth-hanged him, but for the rest he felt fine.

Looking at himself in the mirror after washing his face Ron smiled at his image, "Dating KP, who'd have thought?"

Suddenly, his doubtful and slightly paranoid nature popped up again, "Oh man, I'm dating Kim, how can I ever live up to her standards, how will we deal at school… and on missions… I should call her… no, bad idea, she may be sleeping…"

Ron started pacing around while he tried to pull his clothes on, rudely waking Rufus who had been sleeping in the pile of clothes.

"Hey," Rufus chattered angrily and started looking for a new sleeping spot.

Ron hadn't noticed his pet's inconvenience, "Maybe I should come over to her house… yeah, that's a good idea… should I bring something? Maybe flowers? What flowers? Does KP even like flowers? GHAAAH, why is this so hard?"

Rufus popped his head out from under the blankets where he had found a new shelter; his human was making too much noise for him too sleep. And over such a trivial thing, those two belonged together; they were mates as far as the molerat considered.

The naked molerat sighed and jumped off the bed, why did humans make it so hard on themselves? Rufus even had to push them together yesterday, but clearly that wasn't enough yet.

After climbing up Ron's clothes, Rufus grabbed some of his human's hair and pulled hard, gaining Ron's attention.

"OW! Rufus!"

"Hush…" Rufus pulled Ron's mouth closed and held the boy's lips together, "Relax."

Ron stopped pacing around and looked at his buddy questioningly.

Glad his human had finally calmed down, Rufus jumped on the nightstand and pointed at the phone, "Call, come over, be normal."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked, Rufus nodded and pointed at the phone again.

* * *

Kim had just finished the bath and was drying off when the phone rang.

"It's Ron," Tim, who had picked up the phone, told, "Want me to tell him to call back later? Or should I tell him to come over?"

"I'll get it," Kim quickly donned at bathrobe and ran downstairs to grab the phone from her brother, "Hey Ron… sure, come on over… yeah, in like, thirty minutes… sure we can, just nothing strenuous… okay, see you."

Kim hung up the phone, then stopped for a moment, "_See you? That was lame._" But there was nothing she could do about it now, so she rushed back upstairs to put some nice clothes on to make sure Ron would know what their newfound relation meant to her.

Tim watched confused as his big sister ran up the stairs; this wasn't like her at all. Not to mention Ron barely ever called to come over, he just showed up at the door.

"What's going on?" Jim, Tim's twin brother, asked.

"I dunno," Tim shrugged, if it wasn't something they could use to tweak Kim it wasn't really interesting. And if it were interesting, they would probably find out soon anyway.

* * *

"See you?" Ron looked crestfallen at the phone in his hand, "What does that mean? Have I said something wrong? Did I call to soon?"

Rufus popped his head up from Ron's blankets; his human's self-doubt, especially his _loud_ self-doubt was giving the naked molerat a headache. Rufus was still quite sleep-deprived since yesterday and frankly he didn't need this kind of whining over such small matters. True, Ron had his fears and pet peeves and Rufus usually didn't have much trouble with them, but one would think that after being together for so long Ron could have a little more faith in his relation with Kim, at least that was Rufus' opinion.

Growling, the molerat dug deeper into the pile of blankets. Moments later he heard Ron leave the room and walk downstairs, Rufus sighed happily; finally some rest.

* * *

The walk to the Possible residence seemed extraordinary long to Ron, and it didn't help solve his doubts at all.

When he finally arrived he found Mr. Dr. Possible talking to some contractors outside, "Kimmie's in her room, she'll be out in a minute."

Ron already heard noise coming from the stairs, indication someone was running down. A few seconds later Kim arrived at the hole in the wall – there was no way to call it a front door anymore – and gave Ron a quick kiss on the cheek, "Hey Ron, all ready for a walk?"

Ron blinked; Kim looked really good, brand-new capris and matching blouse, new shoes, all Club Banana. Kim must have been on a shopping spree with Monique.

"S-sure, let's go," Ron said, still recovering from his shock but with the pleasant feeling of his doubts falling away from him.

Kim hooked her arm through Ron's and together they walked off, heading to the park.

Jim and Tim had seen the whole thing from the kitchen, "Did she just…"

"Were they…?"

"This is going to be so good."

"Hoocha." They high-fived.

The twins had not seen their father standing by the garage, if they had seen his –if a little reluctant – approving smile, they would have changed their plans drastically.

* * *

"Hmmm," Kim smiled, "it's nice outside."

"Yeah," Ron agreed hastily, "it sure is a beautiful day, no clouds, nice weather."

Kim stopped and looked at Ron, "You are acting weird."

"What do you mean?" Ron squeaked nervously, "I'm not acting weird, it _is_ nice outside, you said it yourself."

"I know you more than long enough to know something is bothering you," Kim said, "Does it have to do with us being together?"

"NO! Yes… maybe…" Ron looked down, "It's just very confusing, and-and I'm scared I will screw up and it will all go down in flames."

"Ron," Kim pulled Ron's face up and looked him in the eye, "Why would such a thing happen? We've known each other since pre-K."

"I know, and when I screw up, we might lose that as well."

"Ron stop," Kim firmly said, "stop claiming that you would screw up; I'm the one with the track record of dates gone wrong and shallowness, you're the one who was always there for me. Besides, I wasn't planning on letting this go down, were you?"

"No, I…" Anything else Ron wanted to say was silenced by Kim's lips pressing against his.

"Aww, that's so cute," Kim and Ron broke off their kiss and turned to see Tara and Josh looking at them, both were carrying a small amount of cleaning utensils.

"I told you we'd find them in the park," Tara said to Josh, "we've taken a little detour from getting more cleaning stuff for clearing out the gym."

"The supply closet was wrecked last night by a Diablo toy someone had left there," Josh explained after Kim and Ron's curious looks, "So we needed to get new supplies."

"How is the cleaning going," Kim asked, "Do you need more help?"

"Most of it has already been cleared this morning," Tara said, "All that's left to do now is cleaning and scrubbing the floors."

"We'll come with you anyway," Kim offered, feeling a little guilty for sleeping in while she was on the cleaning committee, even though Mr. Barkin had cleared her from duty, "Right Ron?"

"Sure," Ron smiled; if Kim was happy to help out cleaning, he was happy to help Kim.

* * *

When the four arrived at the gym building, there was indeed not much left to do; only the floor needed to be cleaned and the garbage bags had to be taken to the road where a dump truck would pick them up later.

As Kim went to help out with cleaning the floor, Ron and Josh picked up a couple of bags from the pile and brought them to the collection spot at the road. Tara walked around the building to help picking up the garbage lying on the ground all around the gym.

"I'll take the last bags here," Josh said after a couple of walks to and from the collection spot, "Will you check if there is something to collect on the other side?"

"Sure," Ron walked around the corner to the other side of the gym building.

"Isn't it cute that they are finally together?" Ron stopped as he heard Tara's voice from around the corner.

"Tssj," he heard Bonnie's voice, "Kim just got desperate and took the last resort."

Ron winced; Bonnie could even hurt him when she didn't directly intend to.

"But last night let out that you had been expecting it," Tara said questioningly, "In a very rude way by the way."

"Kim doesn't know what she wants," Bonnie told, "she's been dating all over the food chain, no wonder she gets a bottom feeder eventually."

"Why are you so harsh on Ron?" Tara asked, "He's a nice guy."

"Nice doesn't cut it," Bonnie said, "but believe me, Kim will come to her senses; this is just a summer fling."

The voices of the two cheerleaders faded out as they walked away, discussing the how's and what's of summer flings.

Ron stood frozen on the other side of the corner, "_Bonnie is wrong, KP would never do this to me… what if this is a summer fling…"_

His thoughts were interrupted by Josh tapping on his shoulder, "Ron? Were there any bags left here?"

"Huh?" Quickly Ron put up his fake goofy grin, "Bags… yeah, just checking… I'll bring them to the spot."

"Okay…" Josh walked off, a little confused.

"Josh! Wait," Josh turned around and looked questioningly at Ron, "This may sound a bit silly, but… when you and KP were dating…"

"Don't worry," Josh grinned, "I don't have any lingering feelings for her, and neither she for me… I guess what we had was just a fling."

As Josh walked away, he did not see Ron's shocked expression.

* * *

"What am I to do?" Ron wondered out loud as he placed the last garbage bags on top of the pile, "What if this turns out to be a summer fling? Can we get back to what we had? Will it be too awkweird?"

Suddenly two arms wrapped around him and soft, tender lips kissed him just below his ear.

"Finished up on the cleaning, want to continue strolling in the park?" Kim smiled as she turned Ron around, "What were you mumbling about?"

Upon seeing his girlfriend's lovely face, Ron's fears of a summer fling disappeared in the distance, "Nothing, why don't we go and get something to eat?"

"Sure," Kim shrugged, "I could eat something, food court?"

"Yeah," Ron would have preferred Bueno Nacho, but restoring the fast food chain to what it was before Drakken got hold of it would take some time, and Ron really didn't like the setting it had now.

"Kim!" Monique shouted enthusiastically when Kim and Ron walked into the mall, "Congrads with the BF."

"Hey Monique," Kim smiled, "thanks, joining us for a snack?"

"Okay, my shift doesn't start for another hours, so I got plenty of time," Monique looked Kim up and down, "So you kept the clothes?"

"Yeah…" Kim looked down guiltily.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked confused.

"He doesn't now yet?" Monique asked as she took a step back. "Well I'm not telling him,

"What is it?" this time there was more concern in Ron's voice.

"Okay, but promise me you won't freak out," Kim refused to look Ron in the eye, "I kinda bought these clothes two days ago…"

"Yeah… I noticed they were new," Ron frowned, "but what's the problem with you buying… new… clothes…" finally the meaning hit him, "You bought them for Eric…"

"I'm so sorry, I bought them to impress Eric… and then this morning I wanted to impress you, and I totally forgot, it just hit me when we were cleaning, but then I couldn't change, and…" Kim babbled frantically when she caught herself and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, it was stupid of me, I'll return them, or give them away if you want. Forgive?"

"Of course," Ron said as he tried to make sense of the rush of words, "But don't throw these clothes away… I kinda like them, they look good on you."

"Told you so," Monique smirked, but then caught herself, "Didn't mean it that way, don't mind me."

"We won't," Kim smiled, "thanks Ron, for being okay with this."

Deciding to drop the subject, the teens headed towards the food court.

"So, did you and Brick hook up last night?" Kim asked Monique.

"No," the dark haired girl shrugged, "We hung out for a while, danced a bit, and then he went outside with most of the other jocks and I haven't seen him since, I'm pretty sure some of them brought beer or liquor."

"So, he's a no-go?" Kim smirked.

"Yeah," Monique grinned, "now I've got to start hunting al over again."

* * *

After lunch Monique went to Club Banana to start her shift and Kim and Ron left the mall and started walking home.

They had just left the mall when Ron noticed Kim was walking a little slower than usual, "Something wrong with your leg KP?"

"Just a bit sore," Kim rubbed her leg, "I think it went a bit more stiff after sitting down during lunch."

"Are you sure it's okay?" Ron urged, knowing Kim's habit of taking her injuries too lightly.

"Yes, I'm fine Ron," Kim told, and to prove it she increased her walking speed enough so that now Ron was the one who had to catch up.

That action actually told Ron enough; Kim was hurt, but not enough to be worried about, and she didn't want her mother to exam her. So Ron went along and pretended he believed her. He would, however, keep an eye out for any worsening.

When the two arrived back at the Possible residence, Jim and Tim were waiting for them; standing in the doorway, smirking.

Kim frowned, "What do you tweebs want?"

"We know," was all Tim said.

"Know what?" Kim asked.

"About the two of you kissing," Jim smirked.

"I wonder what dad would say if he finds out," Tim added.

"Actu…" Ron started, but Kim interrupted him.

"You wouldn't!"

"Of course we would…"

"…You know we would."

"Fine," Kim sighed in defeat, "What do you want?"

"Television privileges…"

"…Rides to JP Barrymoore…"

"…And the last entry in your diary…"

"…We want to know what you wrote about your new boyfriend."

"Hey! I'm standing right here," Ron complained, "did you...?"

"No comment," Kim muttered, "TV and rides is fine, you won't get my diary."

Jim and Tim though for a moment, "Deal."

As the twins walked back into the house, Ron looked questioningly at Kim, "What was that about?"

Kim grinned deviously as she pulled the Kimmunicator out of her pocket, "Jim and Tim will learn not to mess with me, tonight it's payback time."

"Ouch," Ron shuddered and made a mental note to never ever try to blackmail or double-cross his girlfriend.

* * *

Jim and Tim were watching TV when Mr. Dr. Possible came home from work; the twins shot a quick smirk at Kim before they continued watching TV.

"Daddy?" Kim asked in her most innocent, sweet voice; one that immediately made Jim and Tim look up in worry, "What's your policy on blackmail?"

Jim and Tim were now really worrying, what was their sister up to?

"I'm strictly against it," Mr. Dr. Possible said, "in my house it ranks double to lying, in grounding time that is, why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Kim smiled, then she walked over to Ron, "I see you tomorrow sweetie," and she kissed her boyfriend full on his mouth.

Ron didn't know whether he was more likely to run out through the door or melt in a puddle on the spot, and after the kiss he was only able to mumble incoherently; a huge goofy smile on his lips.

Mr. Dr. Possible noisily cleared his throat, "Must you do that in the living room?"

"Sorry dad," Kim said, but her grin spoke otherwise, "I'll let Ron out."

Jim and Tim knew their game was bust, and they sorely had to cut their losses, "Kim, we totally forgot it was our turn to set the table…"

"…Shall we clean up afterwards to make it up?"

Kim smirked, "It's a start."

Their father watched confused, "What is going on here?"

"I don't know," Kim shrugged, "maybe the tweebs are turning out good at last."

* * *

"Remind me to never cross you," Ron said as he was about to leave, "You're scary when you're vengeful."

"Grow up with the tweebs and you learn," Kim smirked, "besides, they'll figure their way out in a matter of days."

"So… see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Kim kissed Ron again, this time a lot gentler.

Just before dinner, Jim and Tim walked up to Kim, "You tricked us."

"Yes, so?" Kim smirked, "You wanted to blackmail me, and I've got it all recorded." To emphasize her point Kim held out the Kimmunicator.

"We can tell dad that you're trying to blackmail us," Jim tried.

"I'm the one with evidence," Kim grinned.

"Fine, what do you want?"

"Giving up that easy?" Kim immediately knew she would have to be on guard for tricks, "Alright, I want first rights to the bathroom in the morning until mine is fixed. And you can forget free rides to J.P. Barrymoore."

"That's all?" Tim asked suspiciously.

"That's all," Kim promised; her victory was actually worth more to her than the prize she got and she knew there wasn't much use taking too much out of the deal as it would only hold for a few days anyway.

* * *

"So when's the repairs on the house going to start?" Kim asked during dinner.

"The contractors said they would start tomorrow," her father told, "so maybe it's better for you to take up the guest room until they've finished."

"I guess," Kim muttered, she liked her attic room; away from the tweebs, "Do I need to clear out my room?"

"No, just take out what you need, the workers will be mainly working on the bathroom and plumbing anyway."

Later that evening, when Kim had brought her bed gear and some clothes to the guest room, she noticed her leg began to feel stiff again.

"Hmm, maybe Ron was right, better take a bit easy the next few days," Kim said to herself; she knew that if her mother found out she would be in for a lecture and, worse, a check-up. And even though Kim rationally knew she should keep good care of her body, she really hated being examined.

* * *

The next morning Ron arrived early at the Possible house; they were still at breakfast. As it was quite common for Ron to join for breakfast, Jim and Tim scooted up a bit to allow Ron a place at the table.

"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Dr. P," Ron said joyfully as he sat down next to Kim, "Good morning KP."

"Morning Ron," Kim smiled.

"How's your leg?" The moment he asked, Ron realised his mistake; Kim's eyes grew wide as she looked at her mother.

Mrs. Dr. Possible was suddenly at full attention, "What about your leg Kimmie?"

"Nothing," Kim squeaked, "my leg is all fine, no problem."

"Hmm," Kim's mother watched her daughter suspiciously, "Then you won't mind me checking up on it after breakfast, would you?"

"No mom," Kim muttered.

* * *

"See, I told you it was fine," Kim said as her mother examined her leg, "Ron is just overly concerned."

"Uhuh," Mrs. Dr. Possible nodded sarcastically, "Now let me check your other leg."

"Fine," Kim turned around a bit, "It really doesn't hurt, my leg is only a bit stiff."

"And does this hurt?" Kim yelped and jumped up as her mother sharply pressed two fingers in Kim's upper right leg muscle, just above the knee, "Just as I thought, you seriously sprained your Sartorius muscle."

"My what?" Kim gaped at her mother.

"Your Sartorius muscle; a long, thin muscle that runs from your thigh to you knee," Kim's mother explained as she ran her hand over the indicated muscle, "And you wanted to just run around like that?"

"Uhm, it doesn't really hurt," Kim defended herself, "I figured it would heal on its own… I was going to tell you if the stiffness lasted."

"Sure you were," Mrs. Dr. Possible knew her daughter well enough to not believe a word of it, "I'm taking you to the hospital."

"Mo-om, can't you just wrap it in or something," Kim whined, then yelped in pain again as her mother pressed the injured muscle again, "Ow! Stop doing that!"

"You're going to the hospital, and that's final," Mrs. Dr. Possible firmly told, "Tell Ron he can either visit you or pick you up in a couple of hours."

"I may have to stay over?" Kim groaned, but got up anyway; with medical issues there was no arguing with her mother.

Ron looked up as Kim and her mother walked out of the guest room; the 'This is your fault' look Kim shot in his direction didn't bode well.

"Is it bad?" Ron asked meekly.

"Mom is making me go to the hospital," Kim grumbled, "I guess our morning is ruined."

"Want me to come with?" Ron wasn't sure if he dared to be close to Kim for the next few hours, but he felt he had to do something to make it up.

"Nah, you'd just have to wait in the waiting room," Kim told, "but you can pick me up afterwards."

"Okay," Ron said, he already had an idea on how to make it up; while Kim was being examined he would buy her a box full of her favourite chocolates, those had worked in the past and there was no reason why they wouldn't work now that they were dating.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked the first chapter, more should come up soon.


	2. A hostile hospital situation

Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them.

**Disclaimer:** Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks everybody for reviewing, I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Special thanks to _Kwebs _for beta reading.

**

* * *

Chapter 2: A hostile hospital situation**

"Good morning Kim, what are you doing this early in the hospital?"

"Good morning Dr. Hendrikson," Mrs. Dr. Possible greeted her colleague, "Kimmie needs a check-up on her leg, I think she's got a sprained Sartorius muscle."

Seeing Kim's annoyed expression Dr. Hendriskon chuckled, "And I guess Kim isn't too happy with it," the physician knew Kim's aversion of examinations very well, seeing as she had been the redhead's doctor for over fourteen years, "Let's check it out, and I'm sure you're out of here in no time."

Kim sighed and hopped on the examination table; she actually liked Dr. Hendrikson, even though the woman still frequently treated her like a child.

"Yep, that's sprained," the doctor said after some prodding on Kim's leg, "Did you get injured when you were fighting those Diablo robots?"

"Yes," Kim admitted, "Although I'm pretty sure it was the fight with Shego afterwards that got my leg."

"Well, don't worry, your leg isn't injured that bad," Dr. Hendriskon reassured, "Take a couple of days rest and you should be fine, I will also write you a recipe for some medication that will prevent inflammation."

"See Kim, it wasn't that bad," Kim's mother told, "Now you go and pick up your medication and call Ron to pick you up, I have some business to take care of at the neurology department."

Kim said goodbye to her mother and Dr. Hendrikson and walked over to the pharmacy to get her anti-inflammatory meds, then she called Ron to pick her up at the hospital.

As Kim walked past the paediatric ward on her way out, she almost tripped over a young girl who tried to exit the ward.

Kim crouched down and smiled at the girl, "Hi, I'm Kim, what's you name?"

The girl looked up, "I'm Samantha, I lost my teddy bear, will you help me look for it?"

"Sure," Kim said, "Why don't we look at your bed first?"

"I'm having surgery tomorrow, but the doctors said it wouldn't hurt because I will be sleeping the whole time," Samantha babbled happily to her new friend, "Are you sick too? Or are you a nurse?"

"I guess I'm a bit sick too," Kim smiled as she held up the bag with her medication, "I hurt my leg and now I have to take these pills for a week."

"Pills taste yucky," Samantha scowled, "I have to take two every day."

When they arrived at Samantha's room, her parents rushed over to the little girl, "Samantha, where were you? We were worried about you," her mother said as she picked her daughter up.

Samantha's father nodded grateful at Kim "Thank you for bringing her back, miss…"

"Kim," Kim told, "Kim Possible."

"Are you related to Dr. Possible?"

"That's my mother," Kim told, "She's a neurosurgeon here."

"I know, she's going to operate our daughter tomorrow," the father said, "oh, excuse my manners, my name is William, but you can call me Bill."

"You are Kim Possible?" Samantha tried to squirm out of her mother's hold, "Why didn't you say so?"

Kim grinned sheepishly, "I'm just a normal person, nothing special."

"You are!" Samantha said, "You save the world, and you fight bad guys and you do all these things…"

"Samantha dear," her mother said, "Don't excite yourself too much, I'm sure miss Possible has other things to do."

"Don't worry," Kim assured them, "I can stay for a while if you like. Why is Samantha here, if I may ask?"

"Of course," Bill said as he picked up Samantha and placed her in the bed, "She has a weakening in some arteries in her brain, at the moment they are of no threat but when she gets older it could lead to a stroke."

"During the operation the doctors are going to reinforce those arteries," Samantha's mother continued.

"I see," Kim smiled at the little girl, "Well, don't worry, my mom is the best brain surgeon in the world."

Kim chatted for a little while with Samantha and her parents until Samantha's mother announced she had to leave for work, "But I will be back in a few hours."

"I am going to get some lunch," Bill said shortly after Samantha's mother left, "Do you want to come Samantha?"

"No, it smells too much like food there," Samantha told, "and I'm not allowed to have any because of the surgery. Can't Kim stay here with me?"

"I don't know, maybe she wants to go home," Bill said.

"I can stay for a little while," Kim told, "I'm waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up anyway."

"Thank you," Bill smiled as she walked out, "I'll be back shortly."

"You have a boyfriend?" Samantha asked after her father had left.

"Yes," Kim smiled, "and he is a really nice guy."

They talked for a short while until Bill returned, by then Samantha was starting to get drowsy and soon after fell asleep.

"Thank you for taking time out for Samantha," Bill said.

"It's no big," Kim told.

"Well, thanks anyway, it means a lot to my daughter," Bill said gratefully, "Now Samantha's sleeping I might as well go home and get changed, maybe I'll see you again sometime, I know Sammy would like to."

Kim and Bill said goodbye and left Samantha's room.

* * *

As Kim walked to the exit of the paediatric ward, she bumped into Lily, a classmate of Kim, who was wearing a sunshine spreader costume.

"Hey Lily," Kim greeted, "trying to get some last extra-currics?"

"Yes," Lily grinned, "I've been slacking a bit too much last year, and I love working in a hospital. What are you doing here?"

"I injured my leg," Kim explained, "and my mother insisted on having it checked."

The girls walked together to on of the exits of the pediatric ward.

"The pediatric ward sure is quiet right now," Lily said.

"Yeah, most parents have left for work," Kim told, "no life-threatening diseases at the moment. I think except for us there is one nurse doing rounds, but that's it."

At that moment the nurse Kim mentioned walked past, "Hey Kim, what brings you here? Lily, could you keep an eye out here for a moment? I have to bring these reports to the supervising doctor."

"Uhm, okay," Lily reluctantly said, "Kim could you stay here for a while as well? Otherwise it will only be me and Sharon."

"Sure," Kim smiled; by now she was pretty sure that Ron had taken his scooter, so it could take a while before he would arrive at the hospital.

"Hey Kim, hey Lily, where is everybody?" Sharon, another sunshine spreader who was a year younger, asked as she walked into the ward.

"Gone for the moment," Kim explained, "the head nurse will be back in a couple of minutes."

While Kim and Lily went back to check up on the children, Sharon walked to the bathrooms.

When she passed the elevators Sharon heard a 'ding' and one of the elevators opened, she was about to say something when she saw five armed men in black jackets step out instead of the nurse she had expected. Sharon let out a frightened scream before she passed out.

Kim and Lily heard the scream and spun around, "That sounded like Sharon, stay here, I'll check it out," Kim quickly walked over to where she had heard the scream.

When Kim spotted the armed men she immediately grabbed the Kimmunicator and pressed the panic button, she didn't wait for Wade to pick up, "Emergency situation in the pediatric ward; four armed men, probably more, no nurses and staff on site."

"Hold it right there," one of the four men said as they all aimed their weapon at Kim.

"Alright, put away that devise and walk slowly over here," the man ordered.

Kim carefully placed down the Kimmunicator and started walking over to the men, "_Just a few feet more…"_

"Stop!" a fifth man appeared behind the others, "Haven't you noticed who that is?"

"A girl who just called the police," the other man said.

"Idiot," the man who had just appeared was clearly the leader, "That's Kim Possible."

"So?" another man asked, "We have guns, we can take care of one girl, famous or not."

"First you allow her to come too close and then you think your guns are still useful," the leader growled, "she would have taken you down already if she had been sure there were no others around."

Kim was not sure to take this as a threat or a compliment. However, slowly she tried to creep closer to the men.

"Don't even think of doing that," the leader stepped in full view and showed he was holding Samantha, who was still half asleep, "You may make it past my men and me, but not before the girl get it."

Kim's eyes grew wide, but then she held her hands out in front of her in surrender, "What do you want?"

"First you pick up you phone-thing and tell the police exactly what is going on," the leader told, "I don't want them to try anything funny. If they do, the children here die."

Kim relayed the information to Wade, who was now on full alert, "What do you want to do Kim?"

"Nothing at the moment," Kim said, "these guys are serious, they haven't hurt anyone yet and I want to keep it that way."

Samantha squirmed and tried to wring herself loose from the strong grip of the leader and kicked his legs, "Let me go!"

"What is your name?" the leader turned away from Kim and looked at Samantha.

"Samantha," the little girl said in a small voice.

"Well Samantha, I want you to act really nice," the leader's smile never reached his eyes, "Because if you don't, I shoot her."

"You can never hit her," Samantha said defiantly, "She's Kim Possible, she'll take you down."

"She will hold perfectly still," the leader said as he gestured his gun toward Samantha, "Or won't she?"

Kim's mouth went dry, "Samantha, just hold still for now, okay?"

"Good," the leader smiled, "Now that's settled, who else is here in the ward?"

"Just me, Lily and a couple of children," Kim told, "and Sharon, but I think you already found her."

"Alright," the leader ordered his men to assemble all the beds in the room where most of the children already were, then he turned back to Kim, "Make sure to tell the police that I don't want anyone to come up here with the elevators or stairs."

After she had complied the leader looked her over, "I've seen some footage of you, I know you have gadgets hidden on your person. Put all the gadgets down in a pile, if I catch you keeping one behind one of the children here loses a limb."

Kim emptied her pockets of lip gloss and a lipstick, she put off her watch, took everything from the hidden compartments in her belt and pulled off her shoes, then she briefly moved her fingers through her hair to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

The leader and two of the men who had just returned looked surprised at the stack of gadgets, "She sure is prepared…"

"Put it in a bag and toss it out the window," the leader ordered. When that was done the whole group assembled in the room.

* * *

Wade quickly went to action after Kim had explained the situation; first he called Global Justice because they were the ones who could respond the quickest, then he called the local police department and let them contact higher federal offices.

Then he called Ron and explained the situation to Kim's best friend, pressing that Ron would only make things worse by trying to enter the hospital.

After setting these gears in motion, Wade checked the status of Kim's gadgets; as he had feared, the invaders knew of Kim's gadgets and had ordered her to take them off.

The hospital didn't have cameras in the pediatric ward so Wade was not able to find out what was going on in there, he could only hope Kim could keep the situation under control.

* * *

Sharon was still out cold, and one of the men had put her in an empty bed. Kim walked over to the girl, "Lily, could you get a wet towel or something?"

The other children were more confused than frightened at the moment; fortunately the men had been considerate enough not to show their guns.

"So what is it that you want?" Kim asked after she had place the towel on Sharon's forehead.

"About a month ago there was an attack on the US embassy in London," the leader explained, "The attack failed and two of our men were killed and one was captured. He has been surrendered to the US government and put in prison. We want him out."

"And you plan to achieve that by kidnapping a pediatric ward?" Kim asked in disbelief.

"You'd be surprised how quickly people can be persuaded when children are involved."

"You're not making yourselves very popular this way, you know," Kim said, "not even with other criminals."

"Or aim is not popularity, we want our man out of jail."

"But by holding a pediatric ward hostage?," Kim questioned, "And why here in Middleton?"

The leader smirked, "Because the son of the prosecutor is here, he was hit by a car three days ago."

"Jonathan Stone," Kim looked over to Jason Stone, Jonathan's son, who was sleeping in one of the beds.

"That's right, he has quite some influence in high places."

"I don't think the government is willing to deal with criminals," Kim said, "especially terrorists."

"You know what happens in that case," the leader told, "so you better use whatever influence you yourself have as well."

* * *

"…And those are their demands," Kim told over the hospital phone; the Kimmunicator was thrown out together with her gadgets.

"We do what we can," the negotiator said, "In the meantime, do the terrorists agree on freeing one or more of the children?"

Kim looked at the terrorist leader, who was standing next to her, he shook his head, "No, they don't."

"Alright, at least keep trying; we don't want children dying from lack of healthcare."

"They won't," the leader said after the negotiator hung up, "None of these children has a life-threatening disease."

"True, but they're starting to miss their parents," Kim told, "and some of them have wounds that need treatment."

"Take care of it if you can," the man simply said, "Or hope very hard the government caves soon."

* * *

"Is there anything I can do?" Ron asked; he had arrived shortly after Wade had called him and was standing in the area the police had cleared where the negotiators and anti-terrorist agents were setting up.

"I'm afraid not," the negotiator told, "Unless you have an idea what plans Miss Possible might have."

"KP won't do anything that could harm the children," Ron told, "she will probably hold off any action until she is certain she can act freely."

"Well, the government isn't likely to budge, so there is a good chance a strike force will attempt an attack tonight."

* * *

The rest of the day Kim, Lily and Sharon did their best to comfort the children and treat wounds if necessary and possible, Sharon was still a bit shaky but she managed to put up a smile so not to worry the kids any further.

The negotiator called twice more and the second time he arranged to get food up to the ward.

After dinner two of the men went to a different room to sleep so they could stand guard later during the night.

The leader had Kim call the negotiator once more before nightfall, "They say that if their demands are not met by tomorrow evening, consequences will follow."

"You have to stall it," the negotiator urged, "We can't do anything in such a short time."

"Please try what you can," Kim said, "but keep the children safe."

When they walked back to the room, the terrorist leader produced a set of handcuffs, "I don't want you wandering off tonight, these cuffs are rigged with an alarm; if you try to open or break the cuffs, you can be sure one of us hears, and you know the consequences."

He chained Kim to a hospital bed and then went to one of the private rooms to get some sleep himself.

Shortly after, some of the children began to cry that they couldn't sleep and that they wanted their parents.

"Let's pretend this is a campout," Kim suggested, "we can sing a few songs and then we go to sleep."

Reluctantly at first, the children began to sing along as Kim went through her repertoire of camp songs. After the singing, Kim dragged her bed a bit more to the centre and began telling a story she remembered from when she was a pixie scout.

* * *

"…'Join me at my table as a Knight of the realm, as you have shown greater courage, bravery and self sacrifice than any man in this room.' The King said. The surprised knight stood, still shaking at the thought of loosing his head, and still with the tears he shed for his father on his face. He looked at the King and noticed a smile and a tear on the face of the King."

Kim looked around and saw that most of the children were asleep; it didn't take long for the others to fall asleep as well.

"How do you do that?" Lily asked, "How can you stay so calm?"

"I've faced worse," Kim said, "this is the first time children are involved though."

"Aren't you scared?" Sharon asked, "They ignored us most of the time, but they've put a gun you your head at least two times today."

"This isn't the first time I've been threatened by guns; if they don't pull the trigger at once, you're mostly good if you stay calm."

"But you got to get scared by that," Sharon insisted.

Sometimes I wonder if that part of my brain is malfunctioning," Kim chuckled without humor, "I freeze up seeing a roach larger than my arm, but falling out of a plane without a parachute somehow gives me a rush. Guns though I don't particularly like."

"Eww, roaches as big as your arm?" Lily shivered.

"Quiet there," one of the men ordered as he glared at the three teens in the dim light. Lily and Sharon quickly went to their own beds and Kim looked around the room once more to check if all the children were alright.

Her attention was caught by something plush under one of the beds, with a little effort Kim managed to grab what turned out to be a teddy bear; on one of its paws it had a hospital wristband saying Samantha.

"_So there was the little bugger,"_ Kim was about to ask one of the guarding men to hand it to Samantha when an idea hit her.

Quickly and quietly she put her plan together.

* * *

"Sir, we found this," one of the patrolling guards walked over to Dr. Director holding a teddy bear, "It appears to belong to one of the children who are held hostage."

"Where did you found it?" the head of Global Justice asked.

"In the parking lot, under the windows of the pediatric ward."

"Do you think it was thrown out?" James Possible asked; he and his wife had come over worried about Kim, but seeing they wouldn't do much good Anne had left again to watch Jim and Tim.

"Most likely," the agent said, "the teddy bear seems to be a little torn at the seems, maybe there is a message hidden inside."

"Torn seems?" Ron walked over to the group and picked up the bear, "Let me see… no way."

"What is it?"

"Plush babble," seeing some very confused expressions, Ron explained, "Kim and I used to have a secret language we exchanged by our shared stack of stuffed animals, KP had worked out a whole code displayed by a bit of plush pulled out of certain seems. The only animal that was never used for that was the Pandaroo I bought for her, it's been almost eight years since we last used it though."

Ron chuckled as he thought back, "KP once tried to tell me she wanted to learn kung fu, but we didn't have a word for that so she used 'fight' and 'art', and I thought she was attacked by the statue in the park."

Will Du, who had been preparing the strike force, did a quick calculation, "You mean to tell me two eight year olds developed a code based on plush?"

"No, not completely," Ron said, "I think we both were five or six when we started using it."

"What does it say?" Kim's father asked.

"Let's see…" Ron looked the teddy bear over, "Give back… bear…secret…at night…much… sleep… gas…wait…working…hidden in… bear… squeeze…come over… after… noise."

"And what do we make of that?" Dr. Director asked.

"KP wants us to return the teddy bear tonight in such a way the terrorists don't know it was returned," Ron told, "and she wants us to put sleeping gas or knockout gas in it with a delayed working, probably to effect more of them before they find out, and much of it and it has to be activated by squeezing the bear. And after KP makes a loud noise we can enter."

"How do we get the bear back up there without anyone noticing?"

"I think Rufus can help," Ron pulled Rufus from his pocket, "Are you up for a heavy task buddy?"

"Rufus saluted and showed off his muscles to show he was up for the task."

Ron then called Wade to ask the young genius whether he had sleeping gas with a delayed working, "I can batch something up within an hour," Wade promised.

* * *

Eventually, it was three in the morning when Rufus climbed through the ventilation system dragging the teddy bear behind him, the time was chosen by the strike force; between three and four in the morning people were sleeping deepest and Rufus would have the best chance to enter undetected.

When Rufus entered the floor he quickly spotted the two guards standing on opposite sides of the ward, a short search provided him with information about the other terrorists who were still sound asleep in the other room.

The naked molerat then collected the teddy bear he left at the ventilation shaft and carefully brought it to where Kim was sleeping.

Having put herself in mission mode, Kim slept very lightly and woke up immediately and silently when Rufus nudged her.

"Good work Rufus," Kim whispered, "I'm glad Ron still knows plush babble. Okay, place the teddy bear under that bed," Kim pointed to a bed just out of her reach.

Rufus obliged and then went to a hiding place.

"Excuse me," Kim spoke just loud enough for the guards to hear, "I really need to go to the bathroom," she held up her cuffed hand.

The guard shrugged, "Either hold it up or let it go, we won't set you free."

Kim hadn't expected to be let free, but now she had the guard's attention, "Well, could you at least give that little girl over there her teddy bear back; I spotted it just yet and she had been looking for it all day."

The guards looked at each other, then one shrugged and picked up the bear, "That girl?"

"Yeah, just put it under her arm."

The guard placed the teddy bear under Samantha's arm and in her sleep the girl pulled it closer.

"Good, she has the bear, now you shut up and go to sleep as…" the guard stumbled a bit, "Whoa… I don't feel too good."

"Peter?" the other guard walked over, "Something wrong?"

"I just felt dizzy for a moment, it's al…" the guard named Peter collapsed to the ground.

"Shit!" the other guard ran to the private rooms to tell the others what happened, but he collapsed halfway the hall.

"Rufus," Kim softly called, "warn the others, I don't want to risk waking up the other three terrorists." But Rufus was already out; either the gas affected him more or he had taken a small dose already when bringing the bear to this floor.

For a moment, Kim was unsure of what to do; her bed was put on the brake and she couldn't reach the break release and dragging the bed to the window while it was on the break wasn't something she could do before the knockout gas reached her.

So she put the handcuffs flat on the bed-rail and with her free hand she slammed down on the cuffs, it took three blows before it broke and immediately the room was filled with a loud beeping noise.

"That's the signal," Ron said, "let's move in."

Several children began to wake up because of the noise and started crying, the leader of the terrorist group had also woken up and ran in, gun drawn, "And what do you think you are doing?"

Kim was barely able to stand on her legs; the gas was already hitting her hard, "Your men are down, I don't know what is wrong with them…"

"When did this happen?" the leader interrupted, "And what is wrong with you?"

Then he started to feel dizzy as well and in a moment he comprehended what was going on. With a feral growl the leader aimed his gun at Samantha.

In the time it took him to aim his gun, Kim mustered all her strength and launched herself at him and swept his weapon upwards.

The team outside heard the sound of a gun being fired.

"Hurry, there might be wounded," Will Du ordered.

The team rushed in, all wearing gas masks, to see three of the terrorists out for the count and Kim draped over one of them, unconscious as well, the still loudly beeping handcuff around her wrist.

The other two terrorists were quickly found as well, still asleep and none the wiser of he situation. They were quickly disarmed and restrained.

Kim was placed back on her bed and she and all the children were checked for injuries and possible harm done by the knockout gas.

After a short search, Ron spotted Rufus, he picked him up and placed the little guy back in his pocket; he would wake up in a few hours without problems.

* * *

Kim slowly opened her eyes and noticed she was once again in a hospital bed, "How long was I out?"

"Couple of hours," a passing nurse told her, "I want to thank you for what you did, you probably saved those children's lives."

"No big," Kim responded automatically, "Besides, I couldn't have done it without Ron and Rufus. Where are they anyway?"

"Your friend went home to get some sleep," Dr. Director told as she entered the room, "He did a great job tonight, you both did."

"So everything turned out fine?"

"Yes, those terrorists will face severe charges and probably end up with their friend they wanted to free in high security prison."

"And the children?"

"They are all still asleep, in fact, you are the first one to awake from the knockout gas effects. We have just informed your family that you are awake and they will come pick you up shortly."

* * *

"KP!" Ron rushed in and hugged Kim.

"Hey Ron," Kim smiled as she returned the hug.

"You got me worried," Ron said, "we heard the gunshot, and then you were on the ground, I thought you were shot."

"But I'm okay," Kim told, "I just inhaled a lot of knockout gas, good thing I got a bit resistant to it over time. Great that you still knew plush babble."

"Yeah," Ron chuckled, "I think Will still doesn't understand how we managed to come up with it back then."

"Slept well?" Kim's mother asked as she walked in.

"I've got a bit of a headache from the knockout gas," Kim admitted, "when will I be released? And how are Lily and Sharon?"

"Lily and Sharon are still asleep," Mrs. Dr. Possible told, "And there are already professionals standing by to help them deal with the situation when they wake up, but I think you can visit them in a couple of hours. As for you, just a small cognitive test to see the effects of the knockout gas have been cleared and you're free to go."

* * *

Over the next few days, Kim was on forced rest to recover her still somewhat injured leg. She visited Sharon and Lily a few times; thanks to the counselling the girls were quickly getting back on their feet after the trauma. Kim also went to see Samantha after the girl had been operated.

"Hey Samantha, sorry surgery had to be delayed."

"Kim!" Samantha almost fell out of her bed trying to hug Kim, "You saved us."

"Thank you so much for saving our daughter and all those other children," Samantha's father said, "Who knows what would have happened when those terrorists had gotten their way."

"They didn't," Kim told, "better not get thinking about the could haves and would haves, once you go down that road…" she trailed off.

"You're right," Samantha's mother smiled weakly, "But we still owe you big time."

Shortly after, Kim walked out of the room and saw Ron standing just beside the door, "Don't you want to get in?"

"Nah," Ron shrugged, "she hasn't even seen me during the sitch, I don't need to steal your thunder."

"You won't," Kim told, "you had an equal, if not bigger share in making this turn out well, you deserve credit."

Ron smiled, "Getting credit from you means more to me anyway."

"Ron, you're the best, have I ever told you that?"

"On occasion, and it still is nice to hear."

The two teens walked out of the hospital, arms around each other's shoulder.

When they reached Ron's scooter, Ron suddenly gasped, "Oh no! I totally forgot."

"Forgot what?" Kim asked.

Ron opened the saddle of his scooter, revealing a small compartment with a box of chocolates in it, "I had gotten you your favourite chocolates when you had to go to the hospital for your leg, but I forgot to give them to you."

Ron carefully opened the box; all the chocolates had molten to an unrecognisable mass, "I'm sorry KP."

"Don't worry," Kim laughed and ran her finger through the mess and tasted a bit, "The chocolate still tastes good," she offered Ron a next finger-full.

"You're right," Ron chuckled and scooped up some more chocolate.

Kim then scooped up another finger of chocolate and placed a dot on Ron's cheek.

"KP? What are you… oh," Ron grinned as Kim kissed off the chocolate, "Uhm, we're kinda in a public place here…"

"Yeah, I know," Kim smirked, but she did stop, "Let's go home?"

* * *

**A/N: **This story actually originated as a one-shot, but didn't feel good to me as a stand-alone. I hope you liked its placement in this story and that you have enjoyed reading.


	3. Summer vacation

Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them.

**Disclaimer:** Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks everybody for reviewing, I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Special thanks to _Kwebs _for beta reading.

**

* * *

Chapter 3: Summer vacation**

"Do you already have plans for the summer vacation?" Ron asked later that day when he and Kim were relaxing on the couch at Ron's home.

"Well, mom's lately been trying to get dad more in shape," Kim smirked, "and she doesn't deem golf an actual exercise, so she's been planning on a more active vacation."

"Like what?" Ron asked, "Survival, backpacking?"

"Oh no, not that extreme," Kim laughed, "Although I've seen several hiking vacation folders scattered around the house."

"And your dad is okay with that?"

"It was this or a year's subscription to the gym," Kim grinned, "and dad does not like going to the gym, not after the 'halter accident'."

"Do I want to know?" Ron chuckled, "It sounds like fun, I guess my vacation will be just here; dad is pretty busy with work, some big event coming up in a few months."

"Maybe you could come with us," Kim suggested, "It will even the numbers, and it would be a lot more fun," she added with a coy smile.

Ron sighed, "I would love to come with, but my parents already think I'm spending more time over at your place than here and I don't want to ruin any plans they may have made in the few free days they can plan."

"I understand," Kim said, though Ron could see she was a bit disappointed, "Besides, I guess my parents also would like to have a 'just family' vacation."

"Well, better make the best of the next few day then," Ron smiled, though he couldn't fully disguise his own disappointment as well; this was going to be a 'Camp Wannaweep' summer all over again.

The teens heard a car pull up the driveway, "I think that's your parents," Kim said as she got up, "I better get home or I'll miss dinner."

Kim and Ron kissed goodbye and headed for the door, just as Kim was about to open the door, Ron's parents opened it from the other side.

"Hello Kim, Ronald, good thing you're still here," Ron's mother said.

"What's going on mom?" Ron asked.

"Well Ron, how would you like to go on vacation with the Possible family, James and Anne have already agreed."

Kim and Ron gaped at each other, unable to come up with anything to say.

Kim was the first to regain the ability to say something, "Not that I'm complaining, but what's the occasion?"

"Your mother and I will be going to Japan for two weeks to get… to do some business," Ron's father told Ron, "We will leave the day after tomorrow."

"But why didn't you tell me sooner?" Ron asked, still a bit stupefied by the sudden - positive - turn of events.

"This is our way of telling you," Ron's mother said, "So, what do you say?"

"What do I say?" Ron's confused look turned into a huge grin, "Booyah!"

"So it's settled then," Mr. Stoppable smiled, "Kim, would you please tell your parents?"

"Sure," Kim was unable to hide her own delight as well.

"Wait, but what about your work dad?" Ron suddenly asked, "I thought you had some important stuff coming up.

"I'm an actuary, I can work anywhere." Ron's father grinned.

The whole way home Kim felt like being on the top of the world; Ron was coming with on vacation, and their parents were not only okay with it, they actually brought up the idea.

"What are you smiling about Kimmie?" Kim's mother smirked after Kim came home, "I assume Ron agreed to come with us on vacation?"

"He did," Kim found she couldn't get the smile off her face even if she wanted to.

"Well, this isn't going to be some lazy relaxing vacation Ronald might think it is," Kim's father said.

"Still not feeling up to it honey?" Mrs. Dr. Possible grinned.

"No," James sighed, "and I still think it is completely unnecessary… Kimmie, do you think I'm out of shape?"

"Not my place to judge," Kim said and quickly walked to the kitchen to set the table; she was not going to be dragged into her parents' argument about fitness.

* * *

Two days later Kim and Ron saw Ron's parents off at the airport, "Bye mom, bye dad, see you in a couple of weeks."

"Goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable, good luck in Japan."

"Goodbye Ronald, Kim. Take good care, have fun with your vacation."

"I still wonder what business they would have in Japan," Ron said as they stepped into the minivan Kim had borrowed from her mother.

"Me too," Kim told, "I mean, your mom was almost beaming when she told us about their trip, and you dad looked really happy too."

"I guess I didn't notice it that much because I had my own reasons to be really happy," Ron smiled.

"Yeah," Kim agreed, "and to think we were just getting in a flunk because we couldn't spend the vacation together."

When the teens got home they were immediately issued to help packing, "We're going to leave early tomorrow," Mr. Dr. Possible told, "So I want everything ready and packed in the minivan."

"Scheduling much?" Kim smirked; being frequently responsible for rocket launches Kim's father could sometimes get a bit over the top with planning, "Are we taking this on a hiking vacation?" Kim stared in disbelief at the pile of backpacks and travel bags in the hall, "You do know you have to carry it with you, right?"

"Only the backpacks," Mr. Dr. Possible explained, "The organisation transports the rest of our bags between the cabins we'll be using."

"Well, there goes my idea of an adventurous vacation," Kim smirked, "Next thing you'll tell me is that there will be a tour guide coming with us."

"Of course not," James laughed, "that would be silly; we have GPS with us."

Kim just sighed and shook her head.

"So what do we have to carry with us?" Ron asked.

"As far as I understand, only food for the day, medical supplies and usual hiking stuff," Mr. Dr. Possible told, "but the hiking vacation organisation has many experts who will tell us what to take and what not to take."

"Yeah, because what would we do without those experts," Kim said sarcastically, "Dad, don't you think this makes the vacation way to cushy for an adventurous hiking?"

"Kimmie," Kim's mother mildly scolded, "I finally got your father willing to do this, don't talk him out of it."

"Sorry mom," Kim grinned, "I was just teasing, it does sound like a fun vacation to me."

* * *

"Welcome to the Hiking the Indian Colorado Canyons and Utah Paths association," an enthusiastic greeter said as he welcomed the Possible family and Ron, "I hope you had a pleasant trip."

"I had forgotten about the singing," Kim muttered as she pulled out the other earplug.

"Today will consist mainly of introducing you to the know how's of hiking and the wonders, and dangers, of mother nature," the greeter continued, "We will also make sure you have the right gear and hiking shoes. For those who want to, there is a small 2-mile trail leading to the lodges where you will spend the first night. From there you can leave tomorrow on the trail of your choice."

Mr. Dr. Possible drove the minivan to the secure parking area where it would be held during their trip and they quickly unloaded their luggage.

Shortly after, the Possible family and Ron, and another group of hikers; a somewhat heavyset middle-aged couple were shown an introductionary movie about the do's, don'ts and dangers of hiking.

"That reminds me," the man told, "in some areas you have to wear little bells on your clothing so that grizzly bears hear you coming and don't get startled into attacking you."

Ron paled, "There are grizzly bears around here?" Rufus, who had been sitting on Ron's shoulder, gasped and quickly ducked back into Ron's pocket."

"Yes," the woman said, "but it's easy to find out if you're in a bear zone."

"How can you tell," Kim smirked, already having a feeling where this was leading.

"When you see bear droppings with little bells in them, you have reached a grizzly bear zone," the man laughed, his partner and Kim giggled as well at the joke.

"He he," Ron chuckled nervously, "There aren't really grizzly bears around here, right KP?"

The man stuck out his hand, "John Marshall, and this is my wife Heather."

"Pleased to meet you," Kim shook his and Heather's hand, "Kim Possible."

"And I'm Ron Stoppable," Ron said.

"You are The Kim Possible?" John asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Hiking vacation with the family," Kim pointed to the other side of the room where her parents were trying to refrain Jim and Tim from using the bear spray on each other.

"Wow, which trail are you taking?" Heather asked.

"The north-west trail," Kim told, "partly through the mountain area."

"We're taking the north-east trail," Heather said, "but I think both trails connect on the last two sections, maybe we can swap some trail stories."

After the introduction movie, the Possible's gear and luggage was checked for missing or redundant material, "I'm sure you have some experience with backpacking," the ranger who had greeted them before told Kim and Ron after checking their backpacks, "You've got everything you need and nothing abundant."

You learn after a few mishaps," Kim smirked.

"Whoa, what is this stuff?" another ranger said as he was going through Mr. Dr. Possible's gear, "This is just a hiking trail, not a nuclear winter survival experience."

"Well, uhm… better be prepared," Mr. Dr. Possible chuckled, a bit embarrassed, "Just some high tech gear I could take from work."

"High tech gear?" the associate snorted, "I wouldn't be surprised if you told me this was space shuttle material."

"Well actually…" James began, but his wife stopped him, "Let's not go there honey."

"Well, it seems to be… all okay…" the ranger told after he checked all the gear, "If you like, you can hike to the lodges before lunch. But if you prefer, you can also hitch a ride with the luggage van."

Kim and Ron opted for the hike, James Possible's pleading look at his wife did not help him; they went for the walk as well, Jim and Tim were okay either way.

"We'll take the ride," John said, "I don't think I can survive a two-mile hike before lunch."

* * *

"This actually isn't too bad," Mr. Dr. Possible remarked when the Possible's and Ron arrived after an easy two-mile walk, "I'd thought this would be really exhausting."

"Great," Kim said, "Now let's hope you feel the same way after tomorrow's 17 mile hike."

"S-seventeen?" James stammered, "that-that's…"

"Impossible," Ron helpfully filled in, earning him grins from Kim and her mother "Nah, it's really doable. It's the 24 mile trail at the end of the week that's got me worried."

Everyone except Kim gave him a shocked look. Oblivious to this, Ron continued reading from the folder he had obtained at the start of the trail, "You know Mr. Dr. P, are you sure this was the best way to start exercising? I mean, there will be mountain paths going up quite high, and several river crossings."

James looked at his wife, "You said it wasn't that bad."

"Honey, I'm sure it isn't as though as Ron suggests it is," Mrs. Dr. Possible said as she glared at Ron to make him stop reading more demoralising facts, "And besides, every day you can opt to stop at the halfway point."

After lunch, where they met up with some hikers who were going south and were passing by, the group went to the lodges where they would spend the first night. Besides the master bedroom it had two smaller bedrooms with a bunk bed each.

Since Kim refused to share a room with one of her brothers, and Jim and Tim preferred to share a room anyway, there was only one viable option remaining for bedding arrangements, although Mr. Dr. Possible was not too happy with it.

"Come on dad," Kim said, "Ron and I spent lots of nights together, you never complained about that. You know we won't do anything foolish."

"We trust you sweetie," Mrs. Dr. Possible smiled, "Your father just tends to forget that sometimes."

The rest of the day was spend with relaxation, Jim and Tim challenged Ron and Rufus in a series of videogames in the campground game room while Mr. Dr. Possible took the opportunity to read up on the newspaper, Kim and her mother went for walk around the terrain.

Later that evening Ron helped Mrs. Dr. Possible making dinner, and afterwards the six - seven including Rufus – played some board games.

* * *

"KP."

"Hmmm?" Kim opened her eyes and saw Ron looking down on her from the top bunk bed.

"Could you switch on the fan, it's getting a bit warm in here."

"Okay," Kim climbed out of her bed, still half asleep, to flip the switch that would turn on the fan that stood in the corner of the room, "Why didn't you do it yourself?"

"Because I had to climb down and I might have woken you."

"Ah," it took Kim a moment to realise what Ron had said, "Hey!"

Glaring at Ron, who just now realised the flaw in his plan and quickly retracted his head, Kim switched on the fan. Nothing happened.

"Maybe the power cord isn't plugged in," Kim muttered to herself and checked the power cord, which was plugged in.

As Kim flipped the switches and shook the fan, trying to make it work, Ron noticed a second switch next to the light switch; they had turned both down when they went to sleep.

Curiously, Ron reached down and flipped one of the switches, immediately the fan started working. Unfortunately, it was currently on the fastest setting and Kim was still standing behind it.

Surprised by the sudden movement, Kim dropped the fan and it fell towards her, grabbing her hair.

"Ow! Ow!" Kim cried as the fan fell down and she was forced down with it to relief the pull on her hair, "Ron! Switch it off."

Ron quickly flipped the switch again and jumped out of the bed to aid Kim.

"Ron, get it out. Ow! You're hurting me,"

"I can't, it's stuck, try to lay back a bit more, I have a better reach then."

Awakened by the loud thump and the strange noises coming from Kim and Ron's room, Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible ran into the teens' bedroom.

"What is going on here?" Mr. Dr. Possible demanded when he saw Ron bent over his daughter.

Surprised, Ron jumped up, accidentally dropping the fan again; emanating a pained cry from Kim.

The redhead was still pinned to the ground, and ready to sink through it from embarrassment, "My hair got stuck in the fan."

Mrs. Dr. Possible quickly assessed the situation; there was no way to untangle Kim's hair from the fan blades, this called for a more rigorous approach.

"OW!" Kim cried as her mother yanked her hair free from the fan, but then she noticed she was no longer attached to the thing, "Thanks mom… is it bad?"

Mrs. Dr. Possible looked over her daughter's hair, "It's hardly visible, you just need to comb it over in the morning."

Shortly after, Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible returned to their room and Kim and Ron went back to bed.

Kim laid on her back, softly massaging her scalp where quite some hair had been pulled out, when she felt the bed shaking a bit, "Ron, is that you?"

Her only answer was some stifled choking sounds.

"Ron?" Kim stood up to check on her boyfriend, Ron had pushed his face deep into his pillow and his whole body was shaking.

Kim pulled the pillow away, "Ron, what is going on?"

"WHAHAHA… Sorry KP… HEHE… I don't mean to insult you, but… HAHAHA," Ron was desperately trying to control his laughter, "You looked so stupid with that fan."

For a moment Kim scowled at Ron, but then started to laugh as well, "I guess I kinda did."

"Who needs death rays and doom weapons when you have 'The Fan'?" Ron chuckled, finally gaining control of himself.

"Don't let any villains find out," Kim grinned as she gave Ron a quick goodnight kiss before she climbed in her own bed again, "Shego will never let me hear the end of it, and Drakken might actually invent some kind of 'Fan of Doom'."

* * *

The next morning, Kim spent some extra time brushing her hair to get the curled and damaged hairs straight or out.

"What was all that noise last night?' Tim asked during breakfast.

"The fan fell down," Kim told, Ron nodded in agreement, not able to speak with his mouth full.

"How can you make a fan fall?" Jim questioned, but took no further interest as he and Tim were reading the folder for today's hike.

"This will be so cool…"

"…We might even see a bear."

"Now boys, you know what we discussed about bear encounters," Mr. Dr. Possible said, "We're not going to tease wild animals."

"Aw, but Kim got to tease wild animals."

"I was saving a guy who was teasing wild animals," Kim corrected, "totally different."

"Well not if you're in the path of a rhino stampede," Ron muttered.

"Ron, that was one time, how often do you think we will get caught in a rhino stampede again?" Kim smirked.

"Got a point there," Ron agreed.

After breakfast the six handed over their luggage to the rangers and set out for the trail.

The Drs. Possible took the lead, with Kim and Ron following on a short distance, Jim and Tim initially were all over the place; this time taking the lead, that time trailing behind while investigating something interesting, but soon it tired them too much and they settled in the pace their parents had set.

After about an hour they reached a small lake with a beautiful vista where they took a short brake and a little snack.

For the next two-and-a-half hours, the group formation switched often, giving everyone time to chat with each other on a range of topics that came up. However, Kim noticed her father was tending to walk in the back more and more, and often he had to put in some quick strides to catch up, also her mother and Jim and Tim were starting to show signs of fatigue.

Kim herself didn't feel tired at all, even though she had the heaviest bag; having offered to carry the first aid kit. Also Ron seemed to be doing fine; chatting happily with Kim's mother.

Kim slowed her pace so she walked in stride with her father, "How are you holding up dad?"

"In doing fine Kimmie," Mr. Dr. Possible flashed a tired grin, "I just don't think I will be doing the second part today."

"That's okay," Kim smiled, "You already did great for a first time, if I remember my and Ron's first serious hike…" Kim thought back at the time when Wade hadn't been able to get them transportation and they had to walk thirty miles to the nearest road, fortunately they had brought sleeping bags and sufficient food with them, "Besides, I think the halfway point should be close."

About fifteen minutes later the group reached the halfway point; a small picnic area close to the road.

Mr. Dr. Possible slumped down on one of the benches, "I don't know if I can keep doing this."

"You did great honey," Kim's mother said, "I'm sure that in a few days you'll be able to walk the whole trail with ease."

The Possibles and Ron had lunch while they waited for one of the rangers to pick them up. Kim and Ron decided to finish the trail while the others opted to skip the second part.

After about three hours Kim and Ron arrived at the lodge where the rest of the Possible family had already set up camp and were relaxing outside.

"How was the rest of the hike?"

"It was beautiful," Kim told, "there were some great lookouts."

"And we took pictures," Ron held up the camera.

"That's great," Mrs. Dr. Possible smiled, "Maybe somewhere in the next few days we get fit enough to finish the entire trail."

Kim did not tell that she actually had not bothered with the fact she and Ron had the second part of the hike for themselves; the outlooks had made for great make-out spots as well.

* * *

A young, attractive Asian woman approached the Stoppables, "Greetings, Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable, I hope you have not been inconvenienced by the long waiting time."

"Not at all," Mrs. Stoppable ensured the woman, "Japan is very beautiful, we enjoyed every moment here."

Mr. Stoppable looked curiously at the woman, "Have we met before? You look familiar."

"I have been to America before," the woman admitted, "although I never had the pleasure of visiting Middleton."

"I'm sorry," Mr. Stoppable apologized, "Usually I'm pretty good with faces, a few months back Ronald was showing an Asian exchange student around and she had a striking resemblance with you."

"Ronald is your son, right?" the woman asked as she glanced at the map she was carrying, "Did he not wish to come?"

"Adopting Hannah will be our surprise for Ron," Mrs. Stoppable smiled, "He has often complained about being an only child." For some reason Mrs. Stoppable could swear she saw a deep longing in the other woman's eyes, "Ron is taking a vacation with some very good friends of ours; he and their daughter have recently became a couple."

For a brief moment the woman's eyes grew wide, but she quickly recomposed herself, "Shall we meet with the director of the adoption agency?"

Yori kept herself in the background as Sensei discussed several legal points with the Stoppables, her heart felt like it was being ripped apart.

The young ninja knew very well that it had to be Kim who Ron had hooked up with, she also knew that Kim was the only person who would never give up on Ron and who Ron would never give up with, no matter what.

Soon the Stoppables and Sensei finished off the legal part and the four went to see Hannah. Yori forced a smile on her face to not let the Stoppables get suspicious; after all, she was a well-trained ninja.

"Unfortunately young Hannah can not come with you immediately," Sensei, posing as the director of the adoption agency, told, "We have to clear some last legal documents with the government."

"We fully understand," Mr. Stoppable said as he and his wife adored the sleeping girl, "Bureaucracy always takes its time."

In fact, Bureaucracy was the last thing that would bother Yamanuchi. However, the ninja school had many enemies, and under no condition those enemies could find out about Hannah, so everything had to be done with the utmost care.

"Once you have legally adopted Hannah, we will contact you from our American department," Sensei told, then Yori let the couple out.

"Yori, you are troubled," Sensei said, it wasn't a question.

Yori nodded weakly, finally letting her emotions show, "It's Stoppable-san, I though we-we were…"

"You thought you were meant to be together?" Sensei inquired, "Even with Stoppable-san and Possible-san's history together?"

"They never saw what was between them," Yori stubbornly pointed out, "They could have stayed friends, even when Stoppable-san and I…"

"Stop this thought process now!" Sensei commanded sternly, "Those thoughts will bring you upon a bad road, one that will certainly end in pain."

"Stoppable-san and Possible-san are not only destined to be together, their destiny is inseparable," Sensei continued, "even if they had stayed friends, you would have found a hard time fitting in."

"But why did you not stop me?" Yori asked with an accusing tone.

"Yori," the Yamanuchi headmaster looked his student in the eye, "Mountains are not recognised without valleys, Stoppable-san and Possible-san had to go through hardship to realise their love. You too must go through a valley to be able to separate destiny from desire."

"I see," Yori bowed, "I will try not to impose on Stoppable-san."

"No, that is not enough," Sensei said, "you must let go of all feelings you have for Stoppable-san."

"That is impossible," Yori shook her head in desperation.

"Then you must do the impossible," Sensei told, "only then you can truly grow and blossom."

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked this chapter, more should come up soon.


	4. Rafting and a shortcut cut short

Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them.

**Disclaimer:** Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks everybody for reviewing, I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Special thanks to _Kwebs _for beta reading.

**

* * *

Chapter 4: Rafting and a shortcut cut short**

The next day went by pretty much the same as the previous; the whole group made it to the halfway point, and Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible caught the ride from there.

Jim and Tim thought they were able to finish the rest of the trail, although Kim warned them that neither she nor Ron would carry them if the hike turned out to be too difficult.

Eventually the twins turned out to be sturdier than Kim had expected; they finished the hike without too much complains, although they were thoroughly tired when the four arrived at the cabin.

Their exhaustion was quickly over though when they found out that there was a swimming lake behind the cabin, in mere moments the twins had changed into their swimming suits and ran for the lake. Kim and Ron decided to go for a swim as well, although with a much more relaxed pace.

The four played some Marco Polo for a while, followed by a game of tag. After that Jim and Tim tried climbing a tree that hung partly over the water in order to jump in from there.

"We should have a rope or something," Ron suggested as Jim and Tim jumped in the water from the tree, "Then we could use it as a swing."

"Or we can use the ends of the branches," Kim started climbing up the tree, using on of the flexible endings of a branch, she then swung herself into a double backwards somersault before she hit the water.

"That was awesome," Jim and Tim exclaimed in unison, and they immediately started climbing the tree again to swing into the water, although with a lot less grace.

The evening was spent with a sort of barbecue; Mr. Dr. Possible wanted to try out his new outdoors cooking kit. The thing looked very high tech and ran on rocket fuel, causing protests from Mrs. Dr. Possible and Ron and approving cheers from Jim and Tim, Kim did not take a side; cooking was not her thing, although she had come a long way since the 'mixer accident'.

Despite James' usual problem of overcomplicating simple gear, a thing his sons had inherited, the cooking kit worked like a charm, and even Ron had to admit that it did cook the meal faster.

The next day Jim and Tim noticed today's hike would only be six miles, when they asked about it their parents told they had a surprise in stall for the afternoon and that they shouldn't be too exhausted for that.

Seeing as begging for the answer was not helping, the twins decided to take the lead and increase the hiking speed so they would arrive quicker at their destination.

* * *

When they reached the picnic area, they could hear water rushing from a fast flowing river close by. A ranger van already stood waiting, but this one had a trailer with several kayaks.

The twins' eyes started to shine, "We're going kayaking?"

"That's cool," Kim was also getting enthusiastic, Ron too was getting excited.

"We'll be kayaking to the next cabin," one of the rangers, Jeremy, explained, "I'll be going with you in case there is trouble."

The ranger used a one-person kayak while the others went in two-person kayaks; Jim and Tim each shared a kayak with their parents and Kim and Ron went together.

The first part went easy; they travelled downstream and the river was rather wide and deep, so it did not flow too fast.

"Now, are you ready for some more excitement?" Jeremy grinned just before the group rounded another corner.

"Yeah," Jim and Tim cheered," They could already hear a rumbling noise up ahead.

As the group rounded the corners, they saw that the river was suddenly becoming a lot shallower, increasing the stream's speed quite a lot.

"Alright," the ranger smiled, "don't get scared when you topple over, your life-jacket and the buoyancy of the kayak will let you resurface.

Kim turned to Ron, who sat in the back of their kayak, "Ready for some rapids?"

Ron looked nervously at the raids ahead and swallowed, "Whatever you say KP."

"It will be fun," Kim reassured her boyfriend moments before they hit the first rapid.

* * *

Rushing down small falls, negotiating sudden wild rapids, Ron had to admit he actually liked it; the danger he feared was hardly present and he was starting to have a great time.

By the looks of it, Kim was already having a great time; aiming for the fasted streams, challenging Jim and Tim for small races – much to their parents' dismay.

"You're all doing great," the ranger told, with his experience and smaller kayak he could move through the small rapids and keep an eye out for the other three kayaks, "Now watch out, up ahead is a larger waterfall, and I wouldn't recommend you falling down that one, keep to the right and stick with the series of smaller falls."

Kim and Ron had gotten stuck on some rocks and had fallen a bit behind, "Ron, we have to move to the right, there's a waterfall up ahead."

"Gotcha," Ron helped pushing the kayak free and they quickly paddled the boat to the right side of the river.

Jim and his father were already halfway down the small falls when Tim and his mother moved towards the falls. Suddenly their kayak jerked violently when they hit a rock just under the surface and they got caught in the stream leading to the bigger fall; a good fifteen feet drop.

As Tim and Mrs. Dr. Possible frantically paddled to move away from the stream, Jeremy put his kayak between them and the waterfall, jamming the point against a protruding rock. Although this prevented both kayaks from dropping down the waterfall, it did not help either of them getting out of the stream.

Quickly assessing the situation, Kim steered their kayak behind Tim and her mother's, "Ron, paddle backwards, I'm going to try to pull them out of the stream."

Instead of paddling backwards, Ron lodged his paddle between some rocks, effectively locking their kayak in place. Kim reached out and grabbed the end of the other kayak and started pulling.

Soon Tim and Mrs. Dr. Possible were free from the stream leading to the waterfall and floating down the safer stream. Kim looked at the ranger, who was still lodged in place against the stream, "I'm afraid we can't get to you."

"Don't worry," Jeremy told, "I've been down this fall a few times." He then pushed himself free from the rocks and turned around so he could go down the waterfall facing forward. Moments later the dropped down the fall.

* * *

"He's not resurfacing," Mr. Dr. Possible shouted over the noise of the waterfall after a few moments, "I think there is something wrong."

Kim and Ron were about to quickly go down the safe route to aid the ranger when they noticed the kayak with Tim and Mrs. Dr. Possible had moved sideways and blocked the route. "It'll take too long to get them free," Kim said, "we have to go down the fall as well."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked worried.

"We got to help him," Kim told, "and we have to be quick about it."

"Okay," they manoeuvred themselves to the waterfall.

"Try to keep level," Kim said, "If we dive we might get the same problems."

The shock from falling fifteen feet made Ron's teeth clatter, by the time he got his bearings Kim had already pulled off her life-jacket and got ready to dive in.

* * *

The waterfall made this part of the river very muddy, and Kim was not able to see anything under water. But soon she felt the branches of a tree that somehow had gotten stuck underwater. Guessing that this tree had caught the ranger, Kim used the branches as a guide to climb further down the tree.

Shortly after, her hands touched a much smoother surface. Moving around the kayak that was stuck in the tree Kim found Jeremy, quickly she pulled him free from the kayak and started swimming upwards.

"How long is she already under?" Mr. Dr. Possible asked concerned.

"Just over a minute," Ron told, "KP can hold out a lot longer."

At that moment, Kim resurfaced, carrying the unconscious ranger with her. Ron quickly paddled over to her and pulled the ranger on the kayak.

As they rowed to the shore, Jeremy's kayak suddenly shot out of the water, Kim swam over and pushed the boat to the shore as well.

A quick examination showed that the kayak had been pierced by a tree branch, causing it to stick to the tree. The shock had knocked the ranger out.

Fortunately Jeremy had not inhaled any water, and he was already coming about before Ron could place him on the shore.

"What happened?" he coughed as he tried to sit up.

"You got caught in an underwater tree," Kim told as she wrung some water from her hair.

"Thanks for getting me out of there," Jeremy said, "those trees can be a real threat, I'll report it so the tree can be removed before it causes more trouble."

The kayak had been pierced above its waterline, so it could still be used for the remained of the trip, but the Jeremy had hurt his shoulder and was not able to row anymore. So Kim took over the one-person kayak while the Jeremy went in the kayak with Ron; although his shoulder hurt he further felt fine and he didn't want to ruin the Possible's trip, after this waterfall the river got a lot calmer and Jeremy was sure he could manage until they got to the pickup spot.

The rest of the trip went nicely and sedate; Jeremy was able to tell the group a little about the nature in and around the river, and after what seemed like only a short time, they arrived at the pickup spot, close to the next cabin.

Jeremy thanked Kim and Ron once more for saving his life before one of the other rangers took him to the hospital to make sure he had not sustained any lasting injury.

* * *

The next day, the whole group made it through the entire trail. Mr. Dr. Possible was staggering on his feet when they arrived at the cabin, but managed to walk inside before collapsing on the couch in the living room.

Both Kim and her mother, the latter not faring much better than her husband, exclaimed how proud they were.

"Way to go Mr. Dr. P," Ron added to the praise, "So, will you also be doing tomorrow's 24 mile hike?"

Mr. Dr. Possible fainted, either from sheer exhaustion or from the prospect that came from Ron's question.

"Why don't you two take some rest," Kim suggested as she had noticed her mother's tiredness as well, "And Ron and I will prepare dinner."

"No way," Jim and Tim shouted in unison and ran out of the cabin, mere moments later Kim started to chase them, annoyed by their – partly understandable - lack of faith in her cooking and telling them that they would eat, even if she had to force-feed them.

"Don't worry," Ron said after seeing Mrs. Dr. Possible's concerned look, "I'll help KP making a great dinner, and I'll make sure she will not force-feed Jim and Tim."

* * *

Ron was stirring the vegetables and in the meantime keeping an eye on Kim, even though it would be rather difficult – even for Kim – to ruin the meat in this stage.

"How are the meatballs going?" Kim looked up from her task of rolling the meatballs and smiled back at Ron, "Just rolling along."

"Okay, don't forget to put some vinegar on the meatballs when you're finished."

"What?" Kim asked with a disgusted look, "Vinegar? Why?"

"Trust me," Ron grinned, "it won't affect the taste, but it prevents them from burning while they're still raw on the inside."

Kim shrugged, "If you say so."

Keeping a sharp eye on the baking meatballs, not wanting to burn them, Kim had to admit that Ron had been right - as always when it came with cooking -, the meatballs browned slowly and did not burn.

Meanwhile, Ron had cooked the pasta and was busy adding the vegetables to the slowly cooking sauce, "Are the meatballs almost ready?"

"I think so," Amongst many other things Kim admired Ron's patience when it came to teaching, she also liked it a lot that he made her feel important for her job in the cooking process, "But you're the chef, could you check them?"

"Sure thing KP," Ron quickly cut one of the meatballs in half, "Seems fine to me, put them in the sauce and we're ready to serve dinner."

"Who made what part of the food?" Jim asked, kind of a redundant question because everything was mixed.

"I prepared the meatballs," Ron said, earning him a confused look from Kim, "And KP made the sauce and the vegetables."

"I knew it," Tim smirked after taking a bite from the meat, "The meatballs are the best part of the dinner."

"Well boys," Mrs. Dr. Possible chuckled, "then I have a surprise for your, because I saw who cooked what, and Ron did not prepare the meatballs."

Jim and Tim's grin faltered, "You mean that Kim…"

"…But they actually taste good."

"I told you I could cook," Kim smiled proudly, "With Ron's help, that is," she added, giving Ron a quick peck on the cheek.

"It's no big," Ron smirked, mimicking Kim's catchphrase, "Eventually we will turn you into a great cook on your own."

"Yeah right," Kim chuckled, remembering her many mishaps when she tried to cook unattended; her mother had to throw several pans, a mixer and a microwave away before she had banished Kim from the kitchen until the younger redhead had proved she was able to cook properly, "But for now, you keep an eye on my cooking skills."

* * *

"Wow, my legs still hurt from yesterday," Mr. Dr. Possible told, "I don't think I can make the next twelve miles."

The Possibles had started their longest hiking day yet rather late seeing as Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible wanted to sleep in a bit to recover from the hike of the day before.

"Actually, it's more like fourteen miles," Ron observed, looking at the folder, "The halfway point is set somewhat earlier because the rest of the trail is away from the road in a more mountainous area."

"Way to demoralise mom and dad," Kim smirked seeing her parents' shocked expression, "Well, what do you say? Can you finish today's trip?"

"I seriously doubt it," Kim's mother said, rubbing her legs, "I think we'll skip this one, maybe tomorrow we can do the whole thing again."

"We can make it," Jim told.

"Yeah, not a problem," Tim added.

"It's another fourteen miles," Ron emphasized.

"And we will not carry you," Kim said, "So you have to be really sure you can make it."

Jim and Tim insisted that they could make it, and shortly after the four youngsters set off on the second part of the trip.

"I sometimes wonder where they get the energy from," James said as he and his wife watched the four walk off.

"Saving the world tends to improve your stamina," Anne chuckled, "and the boys running around all day have to have built up some as well."

"Well, let's just see how they are faring at the end of the day. Maybe for once we are the ones with more energy."

* * *

The hike in the mountainous parts was starting to have its effect on the four hikers; even Kim had to admit she started to feel the burn.

Jim and Tim were holding their own, even though they were a lot more silent and less active than Kim was used from them.

"Still holding up back there?" she asked over her shoulder, seeing the twins starting to lag behind a bit.

"Yeah, sure, no problem…"

"…We can easily walk another twenty miles," Jim and Tim quickly caught up with Kim and Ron.

"Well, it should only be four or five more miles," Ron told, "in fact, we should reach a fire lookout shortly from where we might even see the cabins."

About ten minutes later, the four reached the fire lookout; a large construction towering over the forest.

"Want to climb it?" Kim playfully asked, seeing her brothers' tired expression.

"Nah, seen it already…" Jim told.

"…It's all the same," Tim added, "We'll wait down here."

"Are you coming Ron?" Kim asked.

"I'd love to KP," Ron said with a tired smile, "But the Ronster is pretty burned up, I don't think I can make it up the stairs."

"Are you sure?" Kim asked in a suggestive tone.

"I'm sorry KP," Ron said sincerely, "even if I made it to the top, I'd be completely out."

"It's okay," Kim smiled, "but you won't mind me going up and taking a look, right?"

"No problem," Ron smiled, "we'll just take a short break."

Chuckling, Kim started walking up the stairs.

"Do you think we can cut the route short by going straight down?" Tim wondered out loud after he, Jim and Ron had had some time to rest.

"I don't think so," Ron told as he looked down the steep hill, "It's pretty steep, and a long roll down if you fall."

"But we won't fall," Jim said confidently, "I bet it will cut a mile from the route."

"Let's just take the normal route," Ron urged, "I'm sure KP agrees with me on this one."

"But Kim isn't here…" Tim smirked.

"…You take the long route, you can catch up with us later," Jim added as the twins stepped over to the slope.

"Jim, Tim, no!" Ron ordered, but the twins had already started climbing down.

Kim was enjoying the excellent view over the area from the fire lookout, when she heard Ron calling up for her.

Running down quickly, Kim asked Ron what was going on, "Jim and Tim, they're climbing down the hill to cut the route short."

"And you didn't stop them?" But Kim knew there was no stopping her brothers when they got something in their head, "Never mind, there probably wasn't much you could do."

The redhead ran over to the slope to call her brothers to come back up at once, when she heard a surprised yelp shortly followed by a pained cry.

"What is going on?" Kim shouted down; she could see Jim a few dozen feet lower staring down, but Tim was nowhere to be seen.

"Tim fell down," Jim cried out, "You have to help him."

Getting to action immediately, Kim started running down the hill until she reached her brother, "What were you thinking?"

"We thought we could climb down," Jim cried, "but Tim slipped and fell down, and now I can't see him anywhere."

"Ron, stay with Jim, try to find a safe route down," Kim ordered, "I'll see if I can find Tim." Then she quickly descended the hill, looking for traces of her brother.

* * *

It didn't take Kim long to find Tim; the boy was lying besides some bushes, groaning in pain and clutching his right foot.

"What happened?" Kim asked as she examined her brother for other injuries.

"I slipped and started sliding down," Tim whined, "I think I twisted my ankle."

"That one is obvious, you might even have sprained it," Kim remarked looking at the swollen ankle, "What did you think you were doing?" she scolded as she started wrapping a tight bandage around Tim's injured foot.

"It seemed like an easy way down," Jim, who had just arrived together with Ron, told, "We didn't know it would be this slippery."

"Well, it was a shortcut," Ron observed, pointing at the road only a couple of feet lower.

"Yeah, great," Kim sighed, "but we still need to get Tim to the cabins, and even with a mile cut off from the route it's about three miles."

"Can't we call for help?" Jim suggested.

"I wish we could," Kim said, "but I didn't bring the Kimmunicator, and mom and dad had the cell-phone with them."

"And even then it will take ages before someone can arrive here," Ron told, "We might as well carry Tim. I'll take the first part."

"Let me take your bag," Kim offered, "Jim, do you think you can carry Tim's stuff?"

With Ron carrying Tim, and Kim and Jim carrying all the backpacks, the going was slow, but steady. After half a mile they stopped and caught a break and after another half mile Kim offered to carry Tim for a while. An offer that Ron gladly accepted; even though Tim was not that heavy, carrying the boy for a mile took its toll.

* * *

"Where could they be?" Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible wondered worried when their children still had not arrived when the afternoon turned to evening, "What if something happened?"

"I'm sure they're okay," Mr. Dr. Possible then said, "With Kimmie and Ronald, what could go wrong?"

"Nothing… I hope," his wife sighed, "I just wish they would arrive soon."

As if on cue, Kim, Ron and the twins appeared around the last corner on the path, all looking exhausted.

"What happened?" the parents asked as they ran over and took over Tim. Mrs. Dr. Possible immediately spotted the bandage and began checking up on her son's leg.

"Tim sprained his ankle," Kim explained, "we had to carry him here."

"And now it will be our honour to collapse," Ron said dramatically before he slumped down on the ground.

"Come on Ron," Kim smiled as she helped her boyfriend up, "You did great, carrying Tim two-third of the way."

"You relax while I'll make you some dinner," Ms. Dr. Possible said as she helped Tim to one of he easy chairs, soon the four were sprawled out over the other chair and the couch as well.

"It has been a while since I felt this tired," Ron mentioned, "Have you ever felt this tired KP?"

"After some missions," Kim said, barely moving from her spot on the couch, having her head nestled in Ron's lap, "Coming home late, after having a run-in with Shego…"

"Not to forget after fighting Monkey Fist and his monkeys," Ron added helpfully.

"Don't start with me on those monkeys," Kim groaned, "it always takes me ages to wash the smell out after that."

"Makes you wonder how Monkey Fist can stand them," Ron chuckled.

Suddenly, a soft rumbling noise made the teens look up.

Ron held his stomach, "Tell me that wasn't me."

"I think I would have felt that," Kim laughed, "I think it was Jim," she looked at the sleeping form of her brothers, "They can be cute when they're asleep."

A new rumbling sounded next to Kim's ear, "Less cute Ron," the redhead smirked, but then the smell from the kitchen hit her nose too and Kim couldn't stop her own stomach from growling either.

"You were saying?" Ron grinned, "I guess we have to get up."

"You can eat in the living room if you like," Mrs. Dr. Possible walked into the living room carrying two dishes with dinner, "Go wake your brothers, I think they would like something to eat too."

After having dinner, Tim was carried off to bed. Jim went to bed as well, feeling very tired. Kim and Ron stayed up for another hour, if you would call laying on the couch 'staying up', then they too decided that a good night's sleep would probably be the best if they wanted to be able to walk tomorrow.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed the story so far, more chapters should come up soon.


	5. Hiking trouble

Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks everybody for reviewing, I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Special thanks to _Kwebs _for beta reading.

**

* * *

Chapter 5: Hiking trouble**

The next day, Kim woke up feeling fully re-energized; the effects from yesterday's long and heavy walk completely gone.

"Morning mom," the redhead smiled as she walked into the kitchen and noticed she was not the first one to wake up.

"Morning Kimmie," her mother said, "did you sleep well?"

"I slept great," Kim told as she began helping her mother set the table.

During breakfast the Kim, Ron and the twins ate like wolves, Kim even managed to keep up with Ron for a while.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dr. Possible explained the new situation, "It's obvious that Tim can't go with us on the last two days of hiking, so we either have to cut our hike short or one of us will go with Tim to the next cabin with the rangers."

"I don't want that…" Tim immediately objected.

"…Yeah, what's the fun in just sitting in the cabin," Jim agreed.

"I would like to finish the hike," Kim told, Ron nodded in agreement as his mouth was full at the moment.

Kim's parents looked at each other, one of them could come with Kim and Ron but neither wanted to do the hike as a third wheel, "Would you two like to finish the hike together?" Mrs. Dr. Possible offered, "We could pick you up in two days."

"You're up for that?" Kim smirked at Ron, who full-heartily agreed, "Thanks mom and dad.

And so the Possible elders and youngsters saw Kim and Ron off shortly before they themselves were picked up by the ranger who would return them to the starting point of the hike.

"Today's only a short hike," Ron noticed, looking at the folder, "Barely fourteen miles."

"And quite easy too," Kim said as she read over Ron's shoulder, "I think we'll arrive even before noon."

"You really think so?" Ron asked.

"Well… we might have some 'distractions' that make the hike a little longer," Kim grinned.

* * *

Even with the 'distractions' it was only half past twelve when the teens arrived at the cabin; without their parents or Jim and Tim slowing down the pace the globetrotting teenagers had made the trip in record time.

"Hey look," Kim said as she read the guest-book, "John and Heather left here this morning, I wonder how their trip has been so far."

"Why don't we ask them," Ron suggested, "the next trip is also a shorty, we might even catch up with them."

Kim looked doubtful, "But will they appreciate having two extra persons sharing their cabin tonight? And what about the ranger delivering our stuff here tonight?"

"We can call them," Ron held out the cell phone, "I'm sure John and Heather have no problem with it."

"Alright then," Kim smiled, "let's do it."

And so the teens set out for another trip that day, they had called the ranger station to explain their plan and got no trouble from that side; the rangers were actually amazed by such active teenagers.

* * *

"I think they've already arrived at the cabins," Kim said after the teens had walked for about two hours and were closing in on the cabins. The redhead was actually a bit disappointed; she thought John and Heather to be nice people and she would have liked to share the last part of the trip with them.

"Yeah, too bad," Ron agreed, "Even though I didn't care for their grizzly bear jokes."

Kim chuckled, "We haven't even seen one bear, and that joke was ancient."

"But still…" Ron insisted, but suddenly he fell quiet, "…KP, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Kim stopped and started listening as well.

"Sound like someone is shouting for help," Ron told as he looked further into the forest.

"I hope you're not trying to get back at me for the grizzly bear joke," Kim smirked, but then she heard it too, "Come on, let's check it out."

The teens ran towards the voice, they could now even hear two voices, "HELP! Somebody!"

"That sounded like John," Kim increased her pace even more, Ron followed closely behind.

Abruptly, the forest opened up and the teens could see John and Heather; the couple had somehow climbed up a steep rock and was stuck there. It didn't take Kim and Ron long to see why; a huge grizzly bear stood at the base of the rock, trying to climb up and get to the two.

"John! Heather!" Kim shouted, gaining her the attention from the couple and from the grizzly bear.

"KIM!" Heather yelled, "You have no idea how glad we are to see you two."

"Ron, bear spray," Kim ordered as the grizzly stopped its futile attempts to climb the rock and approached the teens.

"That won't work," John shouted as he saw what the tens were planning, "We already tried that, it only made the bear angrier."

"Okay… new plan," Kim said as the bear started a run towards them, "Split!"

Kim and Ron split and ran in opposite directions, momentarily confusing the bear, until it chose Ron as its prey.

"Why me? Why always me?" Ron whined as he got into a sprint that would make many Olympians jealous.

Meanwhile, Kim ran over to John and Heather, "Are you okay? How did you get up there?"

"We're fine," Heather told, "only some bruises."

"You'd be surprised what you can do when a bear is chasing you," John remarked regarding their current position, "But we climbed up here by a ledge over there, fortunately it broke off before the bear could find it."

Kim thought quickly, John and Heather were safe for now, and Ron was still keeping ahead of the grizzly, but that wouldn't take much longer anymore.

"Ron!" Kim called, "Try to get over here."

Ron made a sharp turn and began running towards the rock, Kim could clearly see he was staggering and close to collapsing.

"We won't have time to pull him up before the bear gets here," John said, although he still leaned down to catch Ron.

"Don't worry," Kim told, "I'll distract the bear."

Just as Ron reached the rock and grabbed Johns hands, Kim sprayed the bear full in its eyes with the bear spray, the animal flinched for a moment when the spray burned in its eyes but then, as Kim already expected, shrugged off the attack and began chasing the redhead.

Instead of running away like Ron had done, Kim kept dodging the attacks, taking advantage of the large bulk of the animal.

"We got to help her," Ron said after he was safely pulled on top of the rock, which was getting quite crowded by now.

"But how?" Heather asked, "The moment one of us gets down, the bear will go for them.

"Besides, Kim seems to be doing okay," John noticed, "We might even be a burden down there."

Indeed Kim was still doing fine; bear strikes were surprisingly benign when you were used to dodging plasma blasts from a sometimes similarly angered green skinned villainess. But still Kim's plan to frustrate the bear to leaving by occasionally spraying it with more bear spray was failing; all it did was anger the animal more.

Kim dodged again and started running away from the bear, hoping she could lure it back into the forest.

Seeing the bear start chasing Kim, Ron jumped down from the rock, "KP won't be able to dodge the bear forever, and running away doesn't help; I know. You stay up here until we get back." He told Heather and John, "Or, when you think it's save, make a run for the cabins, they should be quite close."

Meanwhile, Kim has reached the edge of the forest again, the bear still hot on her tail. Using her smaller frame, Kim slipped through trees close together to slow down the animal chasing her.

The bear, of course, barged on; this time moving around a tree, other time just crashing through.

Even tough she couldn't shake off the bear; Kim was not really scared until she heard a very familiar gasp further behind her, "Ron! I told you to stay with Heather and John!"

"No way KP," Ron gasped for breath as he tried to catch up with the chase; his previous run still putting its toll, "You can't shake that bear off alone."

"Ron! This is no time to be chivalrous," Kim scolded, more out of frustration than annoyance, "You're still suffering from before, what if the bear starts going after you again. I can dodge it and run, but I can't fight it off from you if the bear attacks you."

Ron knew that, but he couldn't tell his real reason for doing this; at least, not as long as the bear was still involved. If it came to willpower, the enraged animal would probably last the longest. And if something not happened soon, the bear would catch one of them, and Ron preferred that not to be Kim.

Of course, Kim would not agree with his line of thought, and that was why he couldn't tell her; he could only act and hope Kim would be able to get away safely.

* * *

To her surprise and shock, Kim heard how Ron started shouting at the bear, gaining its attention, "Ron, cut that out!" she shouted, partly hoping to keep the bear's attention on her.

The bear stopped for a moment, confused by the two shouting humans and unable to determine which one to attack first; they were both equally elusive to the animal.

Finally, it decided to try to go for Ron again; at least that human did not spray burning liquid in its eyes, with a slow but quickly increasing pace the bear began charging Ron, who stood his ground for a moment, making sure the bear kept chasing him, and then he ran off.

Even though Ron was getting exhausted, his mad running away skills kept him ahead of the animal, until he tripped over a branch.

Kim felt like her heart stopped when she saw Ron tumble over while the bear swiped a massive claw at him. Then all she could see behind the bear's back was a leg bent at a terrible angle.

* * *

As Ron tried to roll away from the bear, he felt a tug at his legs and suddenly he flew free through the air. After falling safely in some bushes, Ron noticed a draft at his legs, "Ah man, I thought this would be the first vacation where that wouldn't happen," he muttered, but then reminded himself that losing his pants was actually the best option in this case.

Quickly standing up, Ron looked around where the bear had gone; what he saw shocked him even more than tripping in front of a charging bear had done mere moments ago.

"Let go of Ron!" Kim had jumped on the back of the animal and was pounding her fists on its head before she realized only Ron's pants were in the bear's claws, "Uh-oh."

The new bone-rattling torture finally made the bear decide to give up; the chase had been nothing but pain since these small humans joined in. if only the human on its back would back down…

The animal tried in vain to claw at Kim, and then it just violently shook its entire body and ran off.

The claws Kim could dodge, the shaking was a whole different thing; the redhead shot away from the grizzly and tumbled over the ground a few times, when she got up she saw the bear running away in the other direction.

"Are you okay?" Kim and Ron both asked at the same time, not even thinking about calling a jinx.

"Why did you go after us?" Kim said, the pain in her voice making Ron cringe, "You could have been killed."

"You could have been killed," Ron answered, "didn't you think of that?"

"Of course I did…" Kim hesitated for a moment, "Well… the bear wouldn't have caught me, I could have dodged it."

"Forever?" Ron asked, "Even you can tire, you know."

"I know," Kim said reluctantly, but then Ron smiled and put his hand on Kim's shoulder, "You know, we'll let it go; we're both okay and the bear has left."

Ron's smile was so infectiously that Kim had to smile as well, "Yeah…" she took a deep breath, "Let's check up on John and Heather."

* * *

John and Heather had been in the good hands, or paws, of the third member of team Possible; when the bear had been far enough away Rufus, who had stayed behind, had showed the couple a safer way down than jumping and together the three of them had found the cabin.

John immediately called the rangers to report the bear incident and was about to tell that Kim and Ron might be in danger when the two walked in, relatively unharmed; both had some scratches and bruises from being tossed away from the bear, and one leg of Ron's pants was in shreds.

Kim took over the phone and finished the report, mentioning that although the bear had left this time, it might go hunt humans more often.

After making sure everyone was okay, John and Heather explained how the attack had started.

"We had gotten a bit lost at the end," John told, "and we thought we had to cross the open part to get to the cabin."

"And that was when we spotted the bear," Heather continued, "And the bear spotted us."

"I don't know what provoked it," John said, "but the bear immediately started running towards us, fortunately we were still quite some distance away."

"But we couldn't run away from it, not for long at least," Heather shivered when she thought back, "But then John spotted a rock we could climb that was high enough to be out of reach from the bear."

"At least, that's what we hoped," John chuckled, already gaining his sense of humor back.

Heather poked her husband, "It was out of reach, and the bear didn't know how to climb up there, but we were still cornered."

"How long were you up there before we came?" Kim asked.

"Half an hour, something like that," John told, "but it sure seemed a lot longer."

"I can imagine," Ron said, "So, does this mean you're quitting the hike?"

John and Heather looked at each other for a moment, "No, we'll finish the last day tomorrow. Would you like to join us, if you're willing to go at the slower pace?"

"Sure," Kim said, "we've been doing a double hike today so we can afford to take the last day a bit slower."

* * *

Ron ran away from the bear; the large grizzly was right behind him, and then Ron tripped. Immediately the animal slashed its claw at the boy, grabbing his leg and tossing him around like a rag-doll.

Kim gasped and sat up straight in her bed, shaking as the memories of he nightmare passed away.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, the redhead managed to recompose herself, but she could not help but get out of bed and check up on Ron who slept in the bunk bed above her.

Ron was perfectly fine; dead to the world, but uninjured. Kim sighed in relief as she ran her fingers through Ron's blond hair for a moment, wondering why she had had this nightmare.

Ron snorted a bit and turned over, causing Rufus to fall of the pillow they shared. Smiling, Kim placed the naked molerat, who slept at least as deep as Ron back on the pillow, meanwhile wondering how Ron had never rolled the wrong way; on top of his pet friend.

As Kim sat down on her own bed again, she noticed dawn was setting in. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep well again this night, Kim stood up again and decided to pick up on an old habit she used to have after a bad night or a nightmare; climbing out of the window and finding a nice spot on the roof or a tree to watch the sunrise.

* * *

"Morning KP," Kim felt a pair of arms sneak around her and a soft kiss in her neck.

"Morning Ron," Kim turned around to face her boyfriend and gave him a soft kiss, "Did you sleep well."

"Yeah, nothing like a long walk and followed by a bear chase to make you sleep through the night," Ron grinned, "You had a bad dream?"

"How do you know?" Kim asked surprised; she hadn't really intended on burdening Ron with her dream.

"Your bed was made and the window wide open," Ron chuckled, "that can mean only one thing… you want to talk about it?"

Kim nodded as she got of the low tree branch, "I dreamt about yesterday, but this time the bear caught you instead of only your pants."

"Ouch," Ron winced, "wouldn't want that to happen, but it was just a dream, right?"

"I hope so," Kim said, "I felt so helpless then… what if something happens to you and I can't help you?"

"I know you will try the best you can," Ron told, "I also know there are things that we cannot control, you can't do everything."

"I can," Kim grinned, "it's my motto."

"We'll see about that next time you're alone in the kitchen," Ron dodged Kim's playful swat to his head, "Breakfast?"

"Gladly," Kim laughed, "as long as you are cooking."

* * *

"Hmmm, what smells so good?" Heather asked as she walked into the cabin's small kitchen.

"That would be Ron's bacon and eggs," Kim said, "would you like some as well?"

"Would I?" Heather already almost drooled at the smell of the food, "I'd love some, and I think John would like some as well."

"That's great," Ron called from the furnace where he was working his magic, "Because I've got plenty."

Soon the four were sitting at the table, enjoying Ron's cooking.

"You know, you are fighting all those villains in those lairs, right?" John said between bites, "Have you ever considered luring them out with your cooking?"

"John!" Heather scolded, but Kim and Ron started laughing.

"We've never tried that," Kim chuckled, "but I'm sure it will work."

Meanwhile, Ron was looking thoughtful; "A camp stove wouldn't be that heavy to carry, and with the right ingredients…" he grinned as Kim nearly choked on her orange juice at the image of villains like Drakken and Shego running out of their lair to grab a bite.

* * *

After breakfast the four set out on the last part of their hikes; a relatively easy eleven-mile walk on a mostly downward path.

"I wish all of the hikes were this easy," John remarked at the picnic area at the halfway point, "Then we wouldn't have had to quit so many times at the halfway."

"Mom and Dad had the same thing," Kim told, "although they did make the one but longest trail, and that had been quite the effort."

"And you walked every day, right?" Heather asked, "We mainly switched between a day of hiking and a day rest."

"But your trail was almost as long as ours," Ron frowned, "did you skip parts?"

"Yes," Heather explained, "we skipped the middle part of the trail; we hiked for a couple of days on the beginning, and then the rangers brought us to the start of the last part."

"That's handy," Kim said, "the service of the organization has been great so far."

"Yeah," John agreed, "every day a filled fridge, luggage moved and the option of getting a pickup at the halfway point, makes you wonder how they make ends meet."

* * *

The second part of the hike went along nicely as well. However, after two hours of walking, the four still had not seen any sign of the cabins, or any other route mark for that matter.

"Are we still on the trail?" Heather wondered as she and John were starting to become tired with the unexpectedly long trip.

"I think so…" Ron said doubtful as he checked the map inside today's hiking folder, "We should have seen a fire lookout, did we see one?"

"No, we haven't seen anything resembling civilization for over an hour," Kim told, "the last thing was that small wooden bridge we crossed."

"So we're lost?" John asked.

"Should we turn around and go back the way we came?" Heather suggested.

"I'm not even sure if I remember the exact way back," Kim said, "We might get even more lost."

"So what should we do then?" John asked.

"One of us could climb a tree and try to spot the fire lookout or any other building," Ron offered.

"Sounds like a plan," Kim told, "now to find a sufficiently high tree…"

They walked for a couple of minutes more before they spotted a tree that stood higher than the other trees and seemed sufficiently supporting.

"Allow me," Ron chivalrously bowed and headed for the tree to grab the lowest branch; hanging about ten feet above the ground.

Softly chuckling after Ron had attempted, and failed, several tries to reach the tree, Kim walked over to her boyfriend, "Coming along?"

"I could use a boost," Ron grinned sheepishly.

"Or you could give me a boost," Kim said, "The next branch isn't that low either, and you have a tendency to fall while jumping on branches."

Ron had had enough bad experience with trees to see Kim's point, so he folded his hands to give his girlfriend a boost.

With Ron's help, Kim easily reached the branch, from there on the climb up was a piece of cake for the cheerleader captain, and soon Kim could look out over the forest.

Although Kim could not see the fire lookout, she could see a thin trail of smoke moving up through the trees not too far away. Assuming it was a campfire, Kim decided to go over there and see if the campers knew the way back to civilization.

"There's a campfire about half a mile from here," Kim told after she climbed down, "Maybe those campers know the way back."

"Hopefully," Heather said as the four headed out in the direction of the campfire.

* * *

When they got closer to the camp, they could hear at least two men roughly talking to each other.

"Hold up," Ron said as he stopped the group, "Something feels weird."

"Yeah," Kim agreed, frowning, "It has my weirdar going up too."

"You better stay back," Kim told John and Heather, "Maybe there is nothing wrong, but we rather go in alone."

"Okay," John said and he and Heather moved a while back to stay out of sight and earshot.

As Kim and Ron sneaked closer to the campfire they quickly noticed the sets of hunting rifles standing close by the fire, they also saw what appeared to be a large canvas covering several animal cadavers.

"Poachers," Ron whispered, Kim nodded grimly; although this forest was not part of a national or state park, it was a protected area and hunting was forbidden.

Kim thought quickly, the hunter clearly knew they were doing illegal business; hence the covering of the kills, so when they would announce themselves it would be doubtful whether they would let them go.

* * *

"How long did Harley say it would take him to get here?" one of the hunters asked, "Being this close to the trails gives me the creeps, if some hikers report gunfire and the rangers start to check it out we're bust."

"Take it easy," the other hunter growled, "There's gunshots all the time, hikers won't bother, and if they do we'll deal with it then."

"Would you shut up?" the third, and last hunter, who had been dozing on the ground, snapped, "Let me get some sleep."

"Yeah, he needs his sleep," the first hunter sneered, "Maybe if you slept well you wouldn't have missed that grizzly yesterday."

"I hit it," the other hunter retorted, "Right below his ear, the stupid animal was just tougher than I expected."

Kim felt her blood boil; she had never been a fan of hunting, her uncle Slim had done some hunting but at least he had always pressed that making a clean, quick kill was mandatory to being a good hunter; if you couldn't make the shot count, you shouldn't shoot at all. And these men hadn't even bothered to track down the bear, allowing it to become crazy with pain and eventually attack John and Heather; two aggressive grizzlies in the same area was just to unlikely for it not to be the same animal.

Ron turned to Kim, "So, how we're going to bust them, one of us distracting them or just going in?"

"As long as we watch out they can't grab their rifles, we're okay" Kim said, "Let's do the distraction."

* * *

The three poachers jumped up as they heard someone approaching their camp and reached for their guns, but immediately forgot about their weapons as a young, attractive girl stumbled into sight; her red hair was a mess and she looked on the brink of exhaustion.

"Please help me," she cried, "I'm lost and-and if he finds me…"

"Don't worry," one of the men grinned as the three walked over to the girl, "We'll take care of you."

"Yeah," the other two hunters nodded, also with wolfish grins, "Just relax."

The girl actually seemed to relax a bit, but then her face was full of worry again, "But if he finds me, he'll kill me… he'll kill all of you…"

That took the hunter back a bit, "Who are you talking about?"

"M-my boyfriend," the redhead shivered, "He went berserk, if I hadn't run away… he-he…" she didn't finish her sentence as her eyes grew wide, "No, please don't…"

Before the poachers could react, they heard a voice behind them, "Put your hands up and don't move if you want to live."

Such a command was hard to ignore, and the hunters quickly put their hands up; expecting the worst after the girl's statement about her boyfriend.

"Now lay down on the ground," as the hunters did as told, one of them managed to sneak a look at whoever was commanding them; he nearly burst out of his skin in anger as he saw the unarmed boy grinning at him a dozen yards away.

With an angry scream, the poacher ran towards Ron, causing his friends to look as well, with pretty much the same reaction.

They got about five feet when the suddenly not so exhausted girl caught up with them and tackled them to the ground, "I don't think so."

One of the hunters tried to get up and make a dive for their rifles, but was mercilessly tackled down again, "Stay down if you don't want to get hurt further," Ron suggested as he assembled the weapons and started to disarm them, "You don't want to get on KP's bad side."

Kim called John and Heather over and together they tied up the poachers.

"So what do we do now?" John asked, "We can't leave them here, and we still need to find a way back to the road.

"You found us by accident?" one of the hunters groaned in disbelief, "We managed to avoid those stupid rangers for all that time, but when some lost hikers come past we lose, what is up with the universe?"

"Bad karma," Kim smirked, "We'll wait for their buddy to come back, apparently he has a car so we can take them all with us."

* * *

Harvey yawned as he drove the large pickup truck over the small, well-hidden forest road; he had had little sleep last night and was still shaking off the headache from drinking too much the evening before.

"I hope they got something worthwhile," the man grumbled as she approached the spot where he would meet his friends, although associates would be a better word; they made the kills, he bought and transported them, making a little profit in the resale, neither he nor the poachers would stick their hand in the fire for one another.

Arriving at his destination, Harvey made a cuckoo call to alert the hunters of his presence.

After not hearing a response after three more tries, Harvey muttered irritated as he carefully approached the campsite, making sure not to alert the trigger-happy hunters.

"I didn't know cuckoos lived here," Ron said as he looked around, trying to find the bird he heard a few moments ago.

"I don't know about the cuckoo," Kim frowned, "But I'm pretty sure I heard a car engine, but now the sound is gone."

"Maybe it's that Harvey guy," Ron suggested with a questioning look at the poachers, who kept completely quiet and only glared back angrily.

"Anyway, we should be careful," Kim told, "he could be dangerous."

"_More dangerous than you know,_" Harvey thought as he quietly pulled his gun; he had seen his friends sitting tied up and the four other persons "_Campers? Hikers? Rangers?"_ guarding them. Even though he cared little for the poachers, they had enough information about him to drag him down with them. And besides, he could use the money he would make by selling the animal skins.

Sam, one of the poachers, was the first one to spot Harvey. Since the girl was about to look in that direction, Sam decided to give their last chance a bit better odds, "Hey red! If you don't set us free right now, you're in deep trouble."

Kim ignored the man; she had heard worse threats, but Ron turned to Sam, "Yeah right, you don't even know who you're facing with, do you?"

"I'll make an estimated guess and say 'Kim Possible'," everybody spun around to face Harvey pointing a revolver at them, "Now if you cooperate and free those scumbags over there, no-one gets hurt."

"We'll see about that," Sam growled, "that bitch almost broke my jaw, she's paying for that."

"Shut up," Harvey snapped, "I've already got a splitting headache and due to your stupidity we've lost this spot, I don't want the cops chasing me for assault or murder as well."

"Fine," Sam spat, "I suppose now you don't want the skins either anymore?"

"The skins are my payment for getting you out," Harvey smirked, "got a problem with that?"

"You two," he continued, gesturing at John and Heather, "Free them and use the ropes to tie up the girl… and the boy as well, I think he belongs with her."

"How do you know who Kim is anyway?" Ron asked when he saw Kim subtly moving in a striking position; he immediately knew he had to distract the man to give Kim a good chance. Ron put one step towards Harvey as he looked questioningly at Harvey, "I mean, what kind of magazines do you read?"

"Hold it right there," Harvey involuntarily shifted his aim from Kim to Ron while in the meantime his brain was trying to come up with a response.

Kim chuckled inwardly as she got into action; Ron's distraction recipe of confusing the opponent was working its charm.

* * *

Seeing the sudden blur of movement, Harvey re-aimed his gun and shot; the first bullet hit a tree at the spot where Kim had been a mere moment before, the second bullet went over her head as she ducked and rolled a split second before Harvey could pull the trigger, the third and last bullet fired went wide as Kim had covered the twenty feet distance and slammed the gun to the side, using her other hand to punch the man in his stomach.

Gasping, Harvey stumbled back and his gun dropped to the ground. However, the man had been in many bar fights before and knew how to recover quickly from a blow, he also knew he would not be able to equal the girl's speed; his best chances were in a ground fight where the redhead's advantage would be minimized.

Seeing Harvey run towards her, Kim immediately recognized him as a wrestler or brawler; someone who could take a serious beating before going down and one who would be dangerous once he got a hold.

Seeing as the revolver was safely out of reach and the poachers were still tied up, Kim got ready to face her opponent.

* * *

Watching the fight, and silently cheering on his girlfriend; not wanting to distract the wrong person at the wrong time, Ron noticed Kim was really in her element here; a challenging fight, but without risk for others seeing as even if Harvey managed to win, he still had three to one odds against him.

Harvey tried several wild haymakers, which Kim easily dodged, while he received several kicks and punches to his torso and abdomen. He growled in pain at some hits, but he had faced worse; he just let the hits come while he waited for his opening.

His chance came soon enough; Kim threw another punch that almost definitely cracked a rib, but Harvey barged into her defense, ignoring the pain, and threw her off balance. As Kim stepped backwards, Harvey grabbed her extended arm and pulled her closer. He flashed a pained grin; now with Kim partly immobilized he was finally getting the advantage.

John and Heather gasped, as to them Kim was in serious trouble. Ron was not too worried yet though; Kim still had a few surprises up her sleeve.

The first surprise to Harvey came when Kim moved fully into his reach; he had expected her to try to wring herself loose from his grip, which would have allowed him to fully unbalance her by moving with her, once on the ground she would have been completely outmatched.

The second surprise was when Kim buried her head in his abdomen and began to lift him from the ground. Ron grinned seeing Harvey's surprised look; Kim was surprisingly strong for her frame and her strength was often underestimated by her opponents.

With a soft grunt of effort, Kim lifted the more than two hundred pound weighing man up further and, using his temporary immobilization due to his surprise, she let him fall over her shoulder, meanwhile getting him in a arm hold.

With an audible 'Oomph', Harvey hit the ground and immediately grunted again in pain as his arm was twisted behind his back.

"Well, that was fun," Kim grinned, breathing only a little heavier, "Want to give up?"

Harvey did try to struggle out of the hold for a few moments, but gave up when it only hurt more to do so. Ron then quickly recovered the gun and found some more rope to tie up the man.

Once they found Harvey's pickup truck, they used his cell phone to call the rangers and explain the situation, then they decided to wait for the rangers and police to arrive instead of trying to take the four tied up poachers to the pickup and driving them themselves.

* * *

"How do you do that?" Heather asked as they waited for the police to arrive, "I mean, he shot at you three times."

"I knew he would miss," Kim tried to explain, "And there was no-one behind me in the direction he was firing, so I figured I would be okay."

"Wait, you knew he was going to miss?" John asked, "How? I mean… how can you know that?"

Kim shrugged, "I'm not really sure, I just know where something is aimed at. Besides, we've faced all kinds of lasers, that makes guns kind of benign."

"But you always said you don't like guns," Ron frowned, "wouldn't you prefer them over lasers?"

"It's not the guns themselves that I don't like," Kim pointed at the small pile of guns and rifles they had taken from the poachers, "It's the quantity in which they come; they're dirt cheap and every thug can buy a load of them. And they require no training; if you want, you can just pull the trigger on a gun you didn't own until five minutes before."

Kim sighed before continuing, "Lasers have the same problem, but at least they're not supplied in abundant quantities."

Heather shook her head, "What you do, I could never do that."

Kim smiled, "You'll get used to it."

* * *

It did not take long before the rangers arrived together with the police, the poachers were known by the police for hunting in other protected areas as well, but this was the first time they could be caught in the act. Fortunately, Kim and Ron had been careful while handling the rifles so that the poachers' fingerprints were still all over the weapons.

The whole group was taken back to the ranger station where they were briefly questioned and could testify against the poachers. Shortly after, Kim and Ron were picked up by Mr. Dr. Possible who had already been on his way to pick up the teens when he was alerted by the rangers.

"You just couldn't leave the hero business behind?" Kim's father smirked as they loaded the remaining luggage in the van.

"Nope," Kim grinned, "Vacation just isn't the same without some villains or other criminals."

"It can be," Ron objected, "what about just relaxing and marinating?"

"For a while," Kim shrugged, "sitting still for too long would drive me crazy. How are the tweebs doing by the way? How is Tim dealing with having to sit still for so long?"

"Not too well," Mr. Dr. Possible sighed, "The boys are thinking out way too many plans and ideas for my taste, at least tinkering with some equipment takes their mind of the more dangerous ideas."

"That sounds like the tweebs alright," Kim chuckled, "let's hope they don't break down the house again before they get back on their feet."

* * *

**A/N: **Another chapter down, I hope you enjoyed it.


	6. Looks like Kim Possible

Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks everybody for reviewing, I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Special thanks to _Kwebs _for beta reading.

Also thanks to _Charles Gray_ for letting me use an idea from one of his stories. Extra points for those who know what I'm talking about.

* * *

**Chapter 6:**** Looks like Kim Possible**

"So the house is completely fixed?" Kim asked when they arrived at the Possible residence.

"Yes," Mr. Dr. Possible proudly told, "Most of the plumbing has been replaced and several walls and ceilings have been rebuild and reinforced… I don't think another Diablo can even break through them now. In fact, nothing short of a meteorite strike would probably wreck the house anymore."

"Or an alien invasion," Ron suggested.

"Yeah right," Kim rolled her eyes, "Like that's going to happen… So, Ron has to take the guest room?"

"Yes," Kim's dad looked back at Ron, "Until your parents return from Japan next week."

"I hope they had a great time," Ron said, "Although I'm still not sure what they were going to do there."

* * *

When Kim and Ron entered the house, carrying most of their luggage, they were nearly run over by Jim and Tim.

"I see you are back on your feet," Kim smirked as the twins skidded to a stop.

"Oh, we thought you were mom," Jim said.

"Yeah, mom doesn't let me run around anymore," Tim huffed, "but my leg is fully healed again."

"Usually mom knows best," Kim told, even though she hardly agreed with that statement when she was the one having to take rest, "You remember the time when you had fallen from the roof trying to bungee-jump? And then you tried driving that mini-quad not a week later…"

"That went perfectly fine," Jim objected, "I just had trouble steering with one arm."

"And I just couldn't hit the brake with my leg in a cast," Tim added.

"Didn't one of you have to wear a neck brace for a week after that?" Ron asked.

"Boys?" Mrs. Dr. Possible's voice came from the backyard, "I don't see you on the couch anymore, I better not see you running around when I come in."

"Busted," Kim smirked as Jim and Tim, the latter with a slight limp, ran back to the living room. "Hi mom," she greeted her mother in the hallway, "I see the tweebs are doing much better?"

"They sure do," Kim's mother sighed, "It's a good thing you're back here to keep them in check a little more."

"Babysitting the tweebs requires payment," Kim joked.

"Then I would make a fortune," Mrs. Dr. Possible laughed as she past her daughter to the living room.

"Too bad we can't have a sleepover like we used to," Kim said with a slight grin as she helped Ron get his luggage to the guestroom.

"Yeah, I don't think your dad would agree on that," Ron smiled, "I can also remember your parents not being too happy about the massive pillow forts we used to make."

"Those were the best pillow forts ever," Kim stated proudly, "Too bad mom and dad make us clear up all the pillows afterwards every time."

* * *

Later that day, after dinner, Kim and Ron were figuring out what to do the next few days before Ron's parents returned from Japan.

"How about going to the beach?" Ron suggested, "sunbathing, a bit of swimming."

"We could go water-skiing," Kim pondered, "You can steer the boat if you like," she quickly added after seeing Ron's expression.

"What's wrong with laying on the beach?" Ron muttered, "Just relaxing, marinating…"

"It's kinda boring," Kim shrugged, "I mean, relaxing can be nice, but a whole day?"

BEEB BEEB BEEEB BEEB.

"Or we could go on a mission," Kim smirked as she pulled out the Kimmunicator, "What's the sitch Wade?"

"There's a couple of new villains threatening to destroy a small village in Michigan," Wade told from the Kimmunicator screen, "They have some kind of super laser on top of their lair aimed at the town."

"Got transportation?" Kim asked.

"Yep," Wade snickered, "There's a plane waiting for you at Middleton airport. Tomorrow around eight soon enough?"

"Wait, what?" Ron grabbed the Kimmunicator from Kim's hands to stare at Wade.

"The situation is under control," Wade was starting to laugh again, "The local authorities have cut the power to the villains' lair, so their laser doesn't work."

"But why do they need us?" Kim frowned, "Seems they can handle by themselves."

"They don't even sound like real villains to me," Ron added.

"You're right," Wade told, "although they claim to be real super villains. The thing is, they have holed up in their lair and the local authorities can't get them out, and since you are most familiar with getting into lairs and getting villains out…"

"I get it," Kim rolled her eyes, "so all we have to do is get the villains out?"

"Wow, sounds like an easy mission," Ron grinned, "so, what are the villains like?"

"Remember Frugal Lucre?" Kim and Ron nodded, "Well, make that three of them and you're getting pretty close."

"Again with the discount?" Kim smirked.

"No," Wade said, "although they did buy the parts for the super laser online from a villain's retail site. The rest is pretty similar to Frugal though; living in their parents' basement, minimum wage job until they decided to become villains… you name it."

Kim shook her head, "Okay, keep us informed, we'll be at the airport at eight."

* * *

The next morning, a plane awaited team Possible; they quickly got on board and headed for Michigan.

"So what started up the nerdy villains?" Kim asked Wade over the Kimmunicator; the tech genius had done some more research on the villains last night.

"Apparently they thought it was 'cool' to become villains," Wade explained, "It may have something to do with their highly active role-playing game lives."

"Wow, let's pay a little more attention to your cousin Larry as well then," Ron joked, "he's pretty much the grandmaster of role-playing games."

Kim rolled her eyes, "Let's not make this stranger, okay? Larry is a nice guy, but I just don't get him."

"But he did help me when I faced Monkey Fist," Ron pointed out.

"Which you shouldn't have done in the first place," Kim told as she glared at Wade, who shrunk in his seat; remembering full well Kim's lecture on informing people of tests he wanted to do.

"Anyway," Ron said, steering the conversation back to the topic on hand, "These guys built a super laser just because they thought it was cool?"

"Pretty much," Wade shrugged.

"Let's just hope no more people get ideas like that," Kim sighed, "it's weird enough with the usual villains we have."

* * *

Once Kim and Ron arrived, the local authorities quickly got them up to date on the situation.

"They've holed up in their lair, claiming they have rations for years," the police chief told, "but since we cut their power and gas, the only thing they have to heat those rations with is a small camp stove, so we figure they come crawling out pretty soon anyway."

"Then why call us?" Ron asked confused.

The police officer sighed and gestured to a small group of people who where bickering with another police officer, "Their parents, they think their sons are going to hurt themselves if they keep up their 'game'."

"Where have I seen that before?" Kim smirked, remembering how overprotective her aunt June could be over Larry, who did not even recognize the over-protectiveness.

"Those people look rather old," Ron frowned, "What age do these 'villains' have?"

The police chief grinned pained, "David is 27. Howard is 30 and Richard 'six-eyes' is 31."

"Six-eyes?" Ron looked questioningly, "You mean four-eyes, right?"

"I wish; he wears goggles over his normal glasses… he actually came up with the name himself."

"I don't think I even want to hear the nicknames of the others," Kim smirked, "come on Ron, let's see if we can get them out."

* * *

"So… what now?" Howard asked David, who was more or less the leader, "We have no power, no water and no gas. I'm pretty sure they want us to give up."

"Never!" Richard shouted, meanwhile adjusting his goggles over his large glasses, "We have never given up under siege before, why start now?"

"Uh… because this is real life," Howard said, "you know… they can even put us in prison for this… once they stopped laughing over us."

"If you don't like it, why did you join in the first place?" David asked irritated, "Yes, this is a setback, but Richard is right, with our combined intelligence we can think a way out of this problem."

"Mom wanted me to get out of the house a little more," Howard muttered, "I don't think she had this in mind though."

"We need a level nine wizard," Richard suddenly suggested, "That will solve our trouble."

"Except that this is real life," David shook his head, "No, we have to think like a villain… how would a super villain react when his power is cut?"

"It wouldn't happen," Howard objected, "Super villains have their own power supply."

"Right…" Richard thought for a moment, "Then we have to build a generator."

"From what?" Howard asked, "we have a camp stove with two additional gas tanks, and the only thing that still runs is the door camera because it is hooked to our laptops' batteries… and those don't run forever either."

"Speaking of the door camera…" David told as he looked at the laptop screen, "Seems we have new visitors."

"Who's the girl?" Howard wondered, "She's hot."

"Way out of your league," David remarked as he straightened his shirt, "So don't even try."

"I know her from somewhere…" Richard thought deeply for a moment, "I know! She knows Wade Load."

"The Wade Load, the best wizard in Everlot and the most powerful computer cracker in the world?" David asked in disbelief, "Like in, they are friends?"

"Yeah," Richard exclaimed, "Rumor has it she is one of the few persons to have ever met him in person… and that's not all, if I remember correctly she is also related to Larry, one of the highest ranking dragon tamers and _the_ authority on practically every novelization existing."

"Whoa," Howard looked at the screen again, "To have that much celebrities amongst your friends and family…"

"But what is she doing here?" David wondered.

"Apparently she does some super villain crime fighting," Richard made a dismissing gesture, "Do you think I could get an autograph of Larry or Wade from her?"

"I wonder if she's seeing that guy that's with her," David muttered, "I think I can take him though."

"Uhm… guys…" Howard interrupted, "You remember the reason we're here? I think that's the reason why they are here."

"Hmph, we just keep the lair on lock-down," Richard said, "You need a tank to get in here, at least."

* * *

"So, how are we going to do this?" Ron asked, "Enter the lair and kick their butts like usual?"

"Well… maybe we can just convince them to give up," Kim suggested; after seeing their pictures she couldn't really bring herself to fight with these guys, it felt like kicking a puppy, "Let's just see if we can get into the lair first."

A short survey around the lair showed that it was, in fact, pretty impenetrable.

"Wow," Kim had to admit, "They sure know how to secure a lair; the air ducts are too small to move through and there is only one entry."

"And the whole thing is encased in the mountain," Ron added, "No way we can break through somewhere."

Kim and Ron thought for a moment; inaccessible lairs were actually a rare encounter for the two, not only because villains were often lacking with their security but also because most big time villains just had to trade in security for logistics.

"How about we just knock on the door," Ron suggested.

Kim shrugged, "Worth the try I guess."

The teens walked over to the lair entry and Ron knocked on the door, "Anybody home?"

"NO! I mean, leave now or you will be sorry," could be heard faintly from the other side of the door.

"Why don't you give up," Kim told to whoever was standing close to the door, "We know you're out of electricity, water and gas, and we're guarding the only exit you have. If you give up now it will probably not even get on your record."

"Not?" Ron looked questioningly at Kim, who shook her head, "Technically they haven't done anything. The only thing there is against them is their refusal to come out of the liar after being ordered by the police."

"But what about the threats? And the super-laser?" Ron insisted.

Kim huffed, "The threats are not recognized a such because… well, the police just doesn't belief them. And super lasers are considered as normal lasers, not as weapons, strangely."

"I see…" Ron frowned, "By the way, I don't think you convinced them."

Kim shrugged, "It was a long shot… any ideas on getting in, or getting them out?"

Ron smiled, "As a matter of fact, I have."

* * *

"What's going on? What happened?" David asked, "Where did they go?"

"They left," Richard told, "I told you they would give up. Now lets get back on our plan on restoring power here… still too bad we couldn't get autographs from Wade or Larry though."

"They left for a reason," Howard said as he peered at the laptop screen that showed the outside of the lair, "They're up to something."

"You're always so paranoid and pessimistic," David complained, "why can't you accept something good for a change?"

* * *

About an hour later, Kim and Ron returned, both carrying full backpacks.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Kim asked, "I mean, not to judge your cooking…"

"You heard the police officer," Ron grinned, "they're on rations, I bet they'll be running out of the lair before I finish the meal."

"You're the chef," Kim chuckled.

* * *

"…Do you smell that?" David asked as she sniffed the air again.

"It smells… good," Richard started looking around, "What is it?"

"It's food," Howard noticed, "good food, great food… it's a trap!"

"That's why they left," David suddenly understood, "they're going to lure us out by cooking in front of the ventilation shafts."

"And we can't do anything against the smell because the power is out," Howard was interrupted by his stomach grumbling loudly, "Uh oh."

"We can take it," Richard stated, "We never failed such a simple challenge."

"In online gaming," Howard pointed out, "When we had snacks standing next to us."

Slowly delicious smells were moving through the lair, much to the frustration of the three would-be villains; their own rations could not compete at all against whatever cook was working outside and there was nothing they could do to block the smell of cooking.

* * *

"Seems like you're going to lose the bet," Kim smirked; Ron had almost finished preparing a good amount of prime ribs while Kim had waved the aroma into the ventilation openings, "No sign of them exiting the lair."

"They'll come around," Ron shrugged, "And if not, then there is more for us."

He had not finished when the door to the lair opened and two guys ran outside in a beeline to the set of camp stoves, "We surrender, can we please have some of that food?"

"Where's the last one?" Kim asked.

"Richard refused to surrender," David explained, "He locked himself in deeper inside the lair."

"Can you handle these two?" Kim asked, Ron nodded, holding up the ladle he had used to stir the gravy, "Besides, they just want something good to eat, right?"

* * *

Kim carefully entered the lair, not really sure what to expect. The lair was sparsely furnished; probably due to the 'villains' lack of money and time to really set up stuff.

"Hah!" Kim looked up when she heard someone shout; in one of the openings to another part of the lair stood a man wearing what Kim hoped was some kind of role playing warrior costume, "You fell for my trap, now you will suffer the fate of those who have crossed the path of Aranoke."

"What?" Kim asked confused, "What are you talking about, you are Richard, right?"

"NO!" the man shouted annoyed, "I am Aranoke, one of the highest ranking warriors in Serenal."

"Okay, why don't you come out of the lair," Kim suggested, "We've got a good meal there, and your parents are worried about you."

"No one tells Aranoke what to do," Richard bellowed, and charged.

"Have you ever read the manual on those costumes," Kim said annoyed as she easily dodged a badly aimed punch, "Wearing the costume does not give you superpowers."

Richard tried another couple of punches and kicks before Kim had enough; in one swipe she swept his legs from under him, then she stepped on his cape so he could not get up again.

BEEB BEEB BEEEB BEEB

"Hey Wade, situation under control," Kim grinned.

"That's Wade Load?" suddenly Richard had all forgotten about his warrior role, "Can I have his autograph? Can I speak with him?"

"Uhm… what's going on?" Wade asked, "I was just going to tell you that the parents of the 'villains' have arrived. Oh, and they're harassing Ron for feeding them ribs, apparently Howard is allergic."

"WADE!" Richard yelled as he tried to free himself from his cape, "I am your biggest fan, can I please, please, please have an autograph?"

"Uhm…" Wade looked questioningly at Kim, who nodded, "Only if you agree to get out of the lair and turn yourself in."

* * *

"Well, that has been a weird day," Ron remarked after the teens had been dropped off at the police station, David, Howard and Richard had been left under the care of their parents after the police had confiscated the laser in the lair and warned the three not to try anything like that again. Howard's allergic reaction turned out to be nothing more than an itching tongue, which subsided within half an hour.

"Yeah," Kim agreed, "almost makes you miss the regular villains. But I'm glad your cooking plan worked and we could get them out without much fighting."

"You don't like fighting them?" Ron asked.

"Not really," Kim admitted, "I always feel a bit guilty when facing an opponent much less skilled than I am… unless it's a really bad guy though."

"And when we fight?" Ron inquired, "In training, I mean," he quickly added after a frown from Kim.

"That's different," Kim objected, "that's training… and I know you can take it."

"Thanks," Ron muttered, "that really helps with the pain afterwards."

"Am I going out too much on you in training?" Kim asked concerned, "I mean, I want us to be prepared when facing the next villain, but I don't want you to get really hurt."

Surprised by Kim's strong reaction, Ron backed down a bit, "No, I didn't mean it like that… it's not that bad, I was just complaining a bit."

"Well… okay," Kim still looked a bit concerned, but let it go and picked up the Kimmunicator, "Wade, have you got transportation back home for us?"

"Yep," Wade told, "remember farmer Hendrix?"

Kim thought for a moment, "He was the one with the coyote infestation?"

"Yeah, he had a trip planned anyway and is willing to make a little detour over Middleton. You're going to have to dual jump though, he only has one spare parachute."

* * *

"Thanks again for saving my chicken farm from the coyote problem Miss Possible," Mr. Hendrix said as he flew team Possible over the Middleton city limits.

"No big," Kim smiled, "good thing I could still reach the high notes though. Ready to jump Ron?"

"Not really," Ron said nervously; the ground already looked very close to him.

"Come on," Kim grinned and pushed forward, taking Ron with her.

With an earsplitting scream from Ron they fell out of the plane. Moments later Kim deployed the parachute, mostly for Ron's sake; she would have waited a bit longer if she were on her own.

"You could have scared away the coyotes with that scream," Kim chuckled after they had landed, "Do you really have to scream that loud?"

"I don't like falling down without control over the chute," Ron explained, "not that I don't trust you, but it's just…"

"It's okay," Kim gave him a peck on his cheek, "You're allowed to have fears."

"Phew," Ron chuckled, "I almost thought I had became the most illegal person on the planet."

"Hey, you are braver then you let on," Kim smiled warmly, "Many guys don't even dare to jump. And you've done it… well, countless times. I don't see a coward doing that."

"Thanks KP," Ron said, "At least someone thinks I'm braver than I let on."

* * *

A few relatively relaxing days later, not counting Jim and Tim's antics, Kim and Ron were heading once again to Middleton airport, this time to pick up Ron's parents.

"So they don't know we know they're coming home early today?" Kim asked confused as she drove the minivan to the airport.

"Yeah," Ron grinned, "it's going to be a surprise, I had Wade check out the flight schedule and it turned out their plane arrives a couple of hours early.

When the two arrived at the airport, they saw that the plane from Japan had just landed. Not long after they spotted Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable in the crowd.

"Mom, dad!" Ron shouted as he ran over to his parents, "How was Japan?"

For a moment Ron's parents looked dumbfounded at their son, then they both smiled broadly and enveloped their son in a hug. As Kim walked over to greet Ron's parents she noticed Mr. Stoppable quickly fumbled some papers away in his pocket, but she didn't really think anything about it.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable," Kim smiled, "did you enjoy Japan?"

"It was great, everything," Ron's mother said, both she and her husband were practically beaming.

"How did you know we would arrive sooner?" Mr. Stoppable asked.

"Wade told us," Ron admitted, "So, what did you do in Japan, you have to tell us everything."

"Why don't we first get our luggage to the car," Mrs. Stoppable suggested, "Maybe Kim's parents would also like to hear it?"

"I'm pretty sure they do," Kim said, much to Ron's disappointment; he was literally jumping with excitement and curiosity. But finally he settled down and helped his parents carry the luggage to the minivan.

As the four walked out of the airport, Kim and Ron holding hands while each carried a trolley bag, neither noticed the Asian girl hiding in the crowd some distance away.

Yori fought back tears; even seeing them hold hands was painful for the girl. Letting go sure did not mean that the hurt would stop. If anything, it only added to the pain.

Somewhere she knew Sensei was right; if Stoppable-san was to reach his destiny, his feelings had to be true and she could not interfere with his choice of a soulmate. But that didn't make things any easier either.

The ninja bowed her head and promised herself she would at least make sure Stoppable-san, Ron, would be happy.

* * *

Ron's parents told a little about their trip on the way home.

"It is really beautiful there," Ron's mother said, "no wonder you liked it so much when you had that exchange trip."

"Yeah," Ron chuckled nervously, "Japan is pretty cool."

"And we took lots of pictures," Mr. Stoppable told, "I'm you'll like those."

After the Stoppables had unpacked most of their luggage, Kim's parents came over, curious for the stories about Japan. Soon they all sat on the couch and on some chairs with something to drink and the pictures passing from hand to hand while Ron's parents told the stories accompanying the photos.

Even though it was still quite early, Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable were soon showing signs of sleepiness.

"It has been a long trip," Ron's mother explained, "If you don't mind, I would like to lie down for a while."

"Seconded," Ron's father agreed.

"We understand," Mrs. Dr. Possible smiled, "we'll catch the rest later."

Shortly after they headed home while Kim and Ron decided to take a short stroll through the park.

* * *

Summer moved on, providing Kim and Ron with a mixed batch of relaxation, helping out here and there, surprisingly few villains, and even a few day-to-day summer jobs.

Eventually, the summer vacation was almost over, and Kim and Ron tried to fill in the last few days the best they could. For this day they had decided to go to Upperton for a stroll in the large city park.

"Want to get an ice cream?" Kim suggested when she spotted an ice cream truck at the edge of the park, a small group of people was already standing in line.

"Sounds great," Ron said, "let me get some."

Kim smiled as Ron headed off to the ice cream truck; he really seemed to enjoy doing these little things for her, not that Kim complained.

Ron quickly obtained two ice creams and headed back to where he had left Kim, "KP, I got the ice creams…" Ron fell silent as the redheaded girl he had been talking to turned around and looked at him confused.

"Sorry," Ron quickly apologized, "I thought you where her," he pointed a little ahead of him to where he thought he saw Kim.

"That's my sister," the redhead snapped, "Who are you and what do you want?"

Ron started looking around frantically; suddenly Kim seemed to be everywhere, "Oh no, it's just like when the Kim Possible style erupted," Ron groaned, "KP!"

"Over here," a familiar voice called out; Kim smirked at Ron as he sheepishly approached, "What's this, you can't even find your own girlfriend anymore?"

"Haha," Ron mocked, "it's really confusing, you know."

"I seem to be handling," Kim gestured around, and Ron soon saw what she meant; not only was there a group of Kim Possible look-a-likes, there was also a bunch of Ron's walking around.

"What's going on?" Ron stammered, "Another cloning idea from Drakken… he's still in prison, right?"

"Relax," Kim grinned, "apparently there is a Kim Possible look-a-like going on here," she pointed to a poster hanging on a light pole.

"Why weren't we informed?" Ron asked, "I mean, it is us."

Kim shrugged, "I think 'Kim Possible Style' already showed that we don't have much copyright on ourselves, I don't feel like making a big fuss of it."

Suddenly an idea struck Ron, "We should enter, it will be fun. I mean, who can better play us than… well, us."

Kim frowned, "Wouldn't that be like cheating?"

"Come on," Ron pleaded, trying his best effort at a puppy dog pout, "why not? Can I at least enter?"

Kim sighed, "Look, I really don't want to enter, but if it means that much to you, you can enter if you like."

"Booyah!" Ron cheered, "This will be cool."

* * *

"Will the finalists please step forward," the judge announced, and five Ron's stepped up including, not surprisingly, the real Ron. There was also an extremely heavyweight version of Ron, who must have weigh over 300 pounds, Ron still couldn't understand how this Ron made it to the finals; he was nothing like that and he would never become like that as well.

Also five Kim's stepped forward; they looked quite like Kim, although they seemed a little younger. Ron could see the real Kim sitting in the audience, for once fully merging with the crowd of contesters; she waved shortly at him and blew him a kiss.

The girl finalists had to perform a series of acrobatics while the guys had some time to think up a text on what made them the best sidekick for Kim.

As the girls finished their performance, it was time for the Ron's to do their bit, Ron Stoppable was the last in line, so he had some time to see how the others performed.

Kim watched with interest, curious on what the Ron's would say, but more importantly, what her Ron would say.

The first Ron did an awful impression of the 'Naked Mole rap' and was actually booed of the stage. The second Ron, the heavyweight, held an ode to snacks and halfway forgot about his speech and left to grab something to eat. The third and fourth Ron did actually pretty good, giving a speech on how they could run all over the place while distracting the villains. However, when the fourth Ron did a move to drop his over-sized pants, much to the laughter of the audience, Ron winced at the painful truth of the situation.

Finally, it was Ron's turn; he stepped up to the pedestal and looked at the audience, although his gaze was mostly aimed at one specific Kim.

"Lasers, spinning tops of doom, evil villains trying to take over the world… they all scare me to death. As long as I run and dodge they miss, but I don't want to think of what happens if I trip or fall."

He took a breath, "KP fights those villains as if it was nothing, lasers, spinning tops of doom… all in a days work, but I don't want to think of what happens if she trips or falls…"

Ron paused for a moment, looking over the crowd before his eyes settled back on Kim, "If I fall, I get hurt, maybe bad... and that scares me, monkeys scare me too, lots of other things as well. But if you fall…" Ron was not even aware of the audience anymore, he was talking only to Kim, "if you fall, my worst fear comes true, so I keep on running and dodging, and hoping I distract the villains."

Kim felt tears streaming over her cheeks as Ron poured his heart out for her, "I love you KP, I couldn't bear to see you hurt. I want to be at your side, being your sidekick makes me the happiest person in the world."

When Ron stopped, there was a total silence, only interrupted by some snivels here and there. Then suddenly the audience erupted in a thunderous standing ovation.

When the jury went to another room to decide on the winner, Kim flew into Ron's arms, "That was the most beautiful thing you ever told me in front of an audience."

"Thanks KP," Ron smiled, "So, will you keep me as a sidekick?"

"You're my partner Ron," Kim told, "you know that, we're equal in this. Without you, I couldn't do half the things I can do now." She smiled and leaned closer to him, "I don't think I even would like to do all those things without you."

Before Ron could reply, the head of the jury entered, "We have decided on the winner."

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked this chapter. The winner of the contest will have to wait a little while longer.

The idea from Charles Gray's story was Ron's cooking luring some villains out of their lair as told in 'Teapot'.

The next chapter will have to wait a while, because I am leaving on a three week vacation. I hope you can hold out so long.


	7. Back to school

Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks everybody for reviewing, I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Special thanks to _Kwebs _for beta reading.

Sorry for the long wait, vacation and stuff came in between, I hope you'll forgive me.

**

* * *

Chapter 7: Back to school**

After everybody returned to their seats, the jury began announcing the winners.

"Third place in the Kim Possible look-a-like is for contester number one, who gave a stunning selection of acrobatic feats."

With a cartwheel, the redheaded girl who was number one went over to the jury and took her price.

"Second place goes to the girl with the best props; being to only one who brought a grappling gun replica. Number three, please step up."

After the girl had taken her prize, the three remaining girls waited anxiously who would be announced the winner.

"And the winner is… Kim Possible number four," With a cheer, the girl ran over to the jury and received her award.

"And now for the Ron Stoppable look-a-likes. Third place is for contester number four, with a very good pants losing impression."

Grinning, the Ron look-a-like obtained his prize, meanwhile holding on to his pants as if they would fall off again.

"Now will the numbers three and five step forward?"

Curiously, Ron and the number three look-a-like stepped forward.

"You both did a great job," The jury member turned to Ron, "And you gave a most moving speech."

The speaker waited a moment to heighten the tension some more, "However, we were aiming for accuracy, and face it; a romantic relation between Kim Possible and her sidekick is not really imaginable. Therefore, first place goes to number three."

Kim gulped as she saw Ron's shocked impression; he sullenly accepted the second prize and stumbled of the stage like a wounded man.

The only thing Kim wanted to do at that moment was run over to Ron and hug him and reassure him that no matter what everybody else thought, he was her guy and nothing could change that. But the crowd was too thick to move through and Kim almost had the feeling she was pushed away from Ron.

To add to the problems, suddenly her Kimmunicator chimed its familiar four tones, and before Kim could switch off the devise more than half of the audience started staring at her.

"That's Kim Possible, the real one…"

"No… is it?"

"Kim, where are you?" Wade asked over the Kimmunicator, "Dementor is at it again, he has stolen a supersonic drill, but I don't know where he has taken it, you better check out at the scene. Oh, and I finally got the super suit fixed up again, maybe you could take it for a spin."

"Yeah…" Kim said distracted as by now the whole audience was staring at her. But more importantly, she could just see Ron walking out of the door, not taking notice of anything around him, "I'll catch up with you later."

The people, most of them – not surprisingly – fans of Kim Possible, were starting to press up closer to the redhead.

"It is Kim Possible, can I have an autograph?"

"Are you going on a mission?"

"Was that Wade?"

"Who are you fighting?"

"Where is Ron?"

"Are you seeing anyone right now?"

As the questions got weirder and more personal, Kim quickly weaved her way through the crowd and out of the building and went in search of Ron.

* * *

"Ron… Ronnie?" Kim called as she walked back into the park where she had thought she had seen Ron going.

A short search later she found Ron; he was sitting on some rocks close to the pond that formed the center of the park, staring at the surface.

"Ron…" Kim was not really sure what to say, usually any verbal attack rolled right off Ron, but this time he had been seriously hurt. Instead Kim sat down next to Ron and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

Ron sat unresponsive for a while, making Kim worry that the loose comment the presenter had dropped had finally done the damage that three years of Bonnie's cruel comments hadn't come close to; crushing Ron's spirit.

Finally Ron moved a bit, and turned to look at Kim, "Was he right… are they right? Is what we have so impossible that it cannot sustain… that it will blow up eventually, taking our friendship with it?"

Now it was Kim's turn to be shocked, she had expected Ron to worry about the unlikeliness of them dating and what would happen if they broke up; Ron had expressed his worries about losing their friendship some times before.

But what Kim saw in Ron's eyes went far beyond that, for a brief moment she could see the deep determination in his eyes to stick with her, no matter what. As the moment passed Kim realized that Ron would always be there for her, whatever happened, no matter what she would do.

Kim blinked and suddenly felt like she was awakening from a fading dream; her earlier realization an elusive memory at the edge of her mind's grasp, and Ron's gaze had reverted into a questioning look.

Kim blinked again, realizing she still had to answer Ron's question, "Look… I have to be honest… I have never dated anyone as long as I have dated you. Not even Josh, we had drifted apart long before we both realized that and moved on," Kim did not see the short twitch that ran across Ron's face, "I'm just saying… this is uncharted terrain for me too, I don't know how us being a couple is going to work out."

"Of course I do want us to remain a couple," Kim hasted to add, "Because I love you," she smiled warmly as she stroked Ron's hair. "But no matter what happens to our romantic life, it can't destroy our friendship, and it won't."

"Besides," Kim continued, now moving a bit into ranting mode, "Who cares what others think about us, they don't control our lives."

Much to Kim's relief, Ron's grin returned, "Can I use that last sentence when Bonnie has you jumping through hoops again?"

"I don't jump through hoops for Bonnie," Kim laughed, "…Okay, maybe a little bit, sometimes… Come on, we've got to catch Professor Dementor."

* * *

Ron was turning and twisting in bed, his usually quick sleep wouldn't come this night. Tomorrow was the first day of school, senior year, but that wasn't really the thing that bothered Ron… at least, not the main reason. The main reason was that they had lost their villain, and Ron felt it was his mistake; if Kim had not had to rescue him she would have caught Dementor with ease. And even though Kim had tried to hide it, Ron could see she had been pretty tweaked about letting Dementor escape.

"Why did I cry for help?" Ron groaned as he rubbed his forehead, "I could have held out for a few seconds more. I wouldn't blame her for being mad at me for that."

* * *

Kim also could not sleep, although she remained laying still; staring at the ceiling and talking to herself, "I almost got Ron killed because I wanted to toy a little with Dementor, and now he even got away."

Fighting Dementor's and his goons had never been very difficult, and with the aid of the supersuit it really became child's play. But then Kim had gotten overconfident and lost the valuable time she could have used to help Ron and catch Dementor.

She had only truly seen her fault when she saw how tired Ron had been when Kim had finally switched off the sonic drill.

"I just hope Ron isn't mad at me for that."

* * *

The next morning, when Ron was about to head over to Kim's house to pick her up for school, the bell rang.

"KP?" Ron asked confused when Kim stood at he door, "That's kinda confusing." Silently, Ron was cheering that Kim would still see him.

"Yeah," Kim chuckled a bit nervously, "I thought I'd pick you up so you didn't forget we have to start school again."

"Thanks," Ron smiled; his day was all good again, "Let's go?"

At school, Kim was still a bit sidetracked, but when asked she quickly did it away as being upset that she had not caught her first villain of the senior year.

Ron tried to cheer her up by mentioning the good things from the fight with Dementor, but was rudely interrupted by Bonnie who was still pretty much under the impression that whatever Kim and Ron had was just a summer fling.

During the rest of the day, despite Kim telling him not to let Bonnie get under his skin, Ron knew that Bonnie's words were getting under his skin. Even though he rarely showed it, Bonnie – amongst others – could occasionally break down his real fortress of immunity; the wall that kept the brutal comments away from his mind. Usually when his fortress was breached it left him a mental wreck until Kim or Rufus pulled him out of it. This time was no other, especially when the thought set in that he had nothing that would make Kim proud of him.

* * *

Ron stood nervously in front of Kim, who wore a more serious face than he had ever seen, "Ron… I think you already saw it a little bit on our first day… summer vacation is over."

"Yeah, I noticed," Ron laughed nervously, "Back to school and such…"

"Ron," Kim interrupted, "You know as good as me that Bonnie was right; when the summer is over, the summer fling is over. And we're already a day overdue."

Ron looked at Kim in shock, "But…"

"No," Kim shook her head, "I'm sorry Ron."

"WHAAAH!" with a scream, Ron woke up and sat up straight in bed, "It was just a dream, just a dream."

Ron looked at his alarm clock and saw he had overslept, all thoughts about his dream were forgotten when he had to rush to get his clothes on and hurry to get to class in time; Mr. Barkin would hold it against him all year if he was too late so soon in the school year.

Ron was about to hurry over to the Possible residence when he remembered that Kim had already gone to school to restart some committee, probably the homecoming dance, but Ron wasn't sure. At least this would mean Kim wouldn't lecture him about getting to school on time.

* * *

Between classes Ron's mind drifted back to the thought he had the day before, and he knew he had to break out of this destructive thought pattern before it could get the better of him.

"Okay, chill… Kim is not Bonnie," Ron perked up a bit, "Me and KP live in a trade-up free zone…"

That was when he overheard Kim and Monique talking.

If someone would have ripped his beating heart from his chest it couldn't have hurt more. All Ron wanted to do at that moment was curl up in a corner and wither away, and that was exactly what he did.

All his hope was lost until he remembered the poster he had spotted when entering the school.

"It's time for Ron Stoppable to step up and become… Ron Stepupable."

And so Ron's career as a football jock began.

* * *

Kim's back hurt terribly, making her once again wonder about her body's ability to shrug off pain during the first hours after a fight or a mission. The downside was, of course, the payback she had to suffer the next day, like now.

Kim laid on her stomach as Ron massaged her painful back muscles, a set-up they both liked. They had tried reversing roles in the past but Ron was not very fond of Kim's more powerful approach; with Kim's rock-climber grip and no-nonsense attitude Ron had often suffered more from the massage than from the pain he had before. And even tough he had to admit that the forceful technique did get him back in shape much faster than any soft massage it usually wasn't worth him the pain.

"That Warmonga sure packed a wallop, huh?" Ron asked, looking at the red streak that reached a little over Kim's shoulder.

"Yeah," Kim agreed, "Although she did surprise me when she could break through the supersuit shield. I think I could have taken her though."

"Even after what she did to Shego?" Ron smirked, "I kinda got the impression both of you were a bit out of your league there."

"Hey! On who's side are you?" Kim said, "We were both taken by surprise."

"Okay, okay," Ron chuckled, "I give in… then again, you don't see that many nine-foot aliens going around."

"See," Kim smiled self-confident before she decided to change the subject a bit, "Wade wasn't too happy though when I returned the suit, apparently I've gotten lucky that the stealth mode still worked because most of the rest of the suit's systems were fried."

"Well, at least he will have a project again," both teens began to laugh; seeing Wade's expression when Kim gave him the suit back had been priceless, apparently the technical genius had had a bit too much confidence in the capability of the suit to sustain itself against pretty much anything.

"It have been some crazy weeks," Kim thought back at what had happened for the past two weeks. First the shocking realization that her brothers would be attending school with her the coming year, which later turned into pride when Jim and Tim had managed themselves greatly in the sitch with Camile Leon.

Not a week later Kim obtained her own car, which with the help of her brothers turned into one of the most awesome vehicles on the planet according to Kim. But even though Kim was grateful for her brothers' help, she was glad she was no longer bound to their contract.

Suddenly Kim found herself stifling a giggle. "What?" Ron asked curiously.

"Nothing," Kim chuckled, "I was just thinking back at last week, when we stopped Motor Ed."

Ron thought for a moment, "The magno rings?"

"Yeah," Kim grinned, they had both been so shocked by the rings that they had almost forgotten about Motor Ed.

In the silence that followed, both teens thought the same thing; what if the rings had been real? Both Kim and Ron had never really considered this and separately from each other they thought it was way too soon for marriage… but how to say that to the other?

The silence stretched far beyond awkward, neither daring to say anything until…

"Well, at least we now both have a job," they blurted out simultaneously and immediately burst out in laughter.

"Jinx," Kim managed to say after they had recovered a bit, "You owe me a soda."

"Too late," Ron objected, "you can only claim a jinx directly after saying a word or sentence at the same time."

"So now there are rules to it?" Kim smirked, relieved that the awkward tension had been broken.

"Yes," Ron said with an overly serious voice, "You mean you never read the rulebook for jinx calling?"

Kim tried, and failed, to stifle her laughter as Ron began 'citing' rules from the jinx calling rulebook.

Finally Kim decided to get up and Ron turned away to let her cover up. "That was one great massage," Kim smiled as she stretched a bit, "Do you want me to return the favor?"

"Nah," Ron suddenly sounded a lot more nervous, "I'm good."

"I'll be gentle," Kim rolled her eyes, "I'll promise to stick to just rubbing."

"Well, okay then," still a bit reluctant, Ron lay down on the bed.

True to her word, Kim began to softly massage Ron's back and shoulders, and soon Ron began to relax fully, "Why can't you do this more often?"

"Because it is just one step above stroking," Kim smirked, "if you want your muscles to recover quickly you have to be prepared to take some pain."

"Well, I'm not the one who had to face a giant alien," Ron remarked, "and the football match was easy, so I am still one hundred percent."

"Great," Kim grinned mischievously, although Ron could not see that, "So we can do an extra heavy workout this afternoon?"

"What?" Ron cried crestfallen.

"Kidding," Kim laughed, "I'm not even sure if I am up to that, and I'm pretty sure mom would disagree."

"Yeah, it would probably be a bad ideas to strain yourself too much," Ron was unable to hide his relief, "So, what did you plan on doing this afternoon?"

"I want to make a start in the book for advanced Latin class I'm starting Monday," Kim said, "just a bit of pre-reading."

"You always do that," Ron frowned, "but you breeze through anyway, so why do you take the extra effort, for an optional course no less?"

"I like to learn," Kim explained, "and I found Latin class last year pretty interesting."

"I guess," Ron shrugged.

"Are you going to do some optional courses?" Kim asked.

"Nah," Ron said, "I like my senior year to be relaxing; the other years have been busy enough."

Kim raised an eyebrow, "Some extra classes will look good on your resume."

"Perhaps," Ron sighed as he sat up, "But I don't even know what I want to do after we have graduated."

"Well, we still got all year to figure that out," Kim smiled, "I'm sure something will peak your interest."

"Do you know what you want to do?" Ron then asked.

Kim shrugged, "Not really, mom and dad have been hinting towards their careers a bit, but I don't know. Anyway, it will still be ages before we have to decide what we want after school, right?"

* * *

"Does Ron use to scream in class often?" Jim asked during dinner.

"Why?" Kim asked confused; although, thinking back, Ron did flip out in class every now and then, usually due to a dispute with Mr. Barkin, "Wait, was it health class?"

"Duh," Tim smirked.

"During lunch he did put up a rant about Mr. Barkin dishing out on Bueno Nacho," Kim told, "and now he only wants to eat at Bueno Nacho to prove his point."

"The two of you do know that eating fast food all the time is a bad habit, right?" Mrs. Dr. Possible said, "A well balanced diet is important."

"I know, I took health class during freshman year, remember?" Kim smirked, "Although even then Ron used to disagree when I told him about it."

"Do you think he will go on with this plan?" Mr. Dr. Possible asked.

"I tried to talk him out of it, but you know how Ron can be," Kim shrugged, "he'll probably hold out for a day or two and gives up and decides to ignore Mr. Barkin's lessons."

"Wouldn't count on it," Jim said.

"You didn't see him in there," Tim added, "and you know how Ron is about Bueno Nacho."

"True," Kim admitted, "but to eat nothing but junk food every day…" she shuddered, "I don't think even Ron can put up with that."

* * *

Apparently, Ron could put up with it. And as his BMI levels rose, his determination rose with it. And quite frankly, Kim was starting to get put off by it. She tried to get Ron to stop this unhealthy attitude every chance she got, but eventually it took a bizarre mutagen from HenchCo to make him give up on his fast food obsession.

"So, did we learn anything," Kim smirked, everything had turned back to normal; the molecular transducer was safely at Global Justice and Ron was back to his normal size and state of health.

"By 'we', you mean…"

"You," Kim frowned, slightly annoyed, "did you learn anything?"

"Well," Ron pondered for a moment, "Some of the stuff on that wheel is kinda tasty…"

"Ron!" Kim scolded, annoyed by Ron's lack of common sense.

"Eating a balanced diet will keep you from turning in an evil mutated maniac?" Ron smiled, clearly enjoying ticking Kim off.

Kim's eyes grew wide as she noticed Ron was playing her, "Yeah," she sighed with a slight grin, "Something like that."

"Alright," Ron grinned, "Wanna grab a bite at Bueno Nacho?"

"Ron!" Kim pulled out of their embrace to glare at Ron.

"Just kidding," Ron chuckled, "…You know, I promise to try one of the salads next time we go to Bueno Nacho."

Kim smiled; maybe there still was hope for Ron.

* * *

Kim smiled warmly as she walked back from Ron's house; his 'big brother' feelings were at it full force and he was fully integrating into nursing his adopted sister.

During the last week Kim had found out many things, some of which were pretty weird.

Mr. Barkin's statement that home time was his time, especially so at bath time was in itself fairly normal. The fact that he had told Ron before was a bit disturbing, but not the strangest thing that happened.

Ron managing to wreck 1897 bags of flour and, which he had found out too late, 35 bags of sugar in just a week was quite impressive; only sackie MCMXXXIII had survived the massacre. At least, until Ron's mother needed sugar.

"I can't believe he didn't see those were bags of sugar," Tim had laughed when he and Jim told the story about Ron failing his assignment, "If the last stack was all sugar, he must have noticed when they ripped open?"

"In his defense, the last forty sackies drowned," Kim had told and explained Ron had taken the sackies on a boat-ride, this only added to the laugher at the Possible dinner table.

But still, weirder things had happened.

They had finally found out what Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable had been doing in Japan. With Hannah added to the family Ron no longer was an only child, and even though it had taken him a while to come to terms with it, now he was the best big brother Kim could imagine.

Ron being able to not only hold his own against a group of monkey ninjas but also defeating them and their master was definitely an improvement, although Ron could not fully recall how he had beaten Monkey Fist eventually.

But the weirdest thing that happened was Yori; the ninja clearly still took a liking to Ron, something that irked Kim quite a lot. However, when Ron told her that he and Kim were together now, she appeared completely okay with it. And later, when Kim had pressed the issue some more, Yori told her she had accepted the fact that Kim and Ron belonged together.

Still… something felt off to Kim. Even though she was unable to get much of a reading from Yori if the ninja decided not to show her emotions, Kim felt some instinct, maybe her weirdar, sending out vibes that something was wrong.

* * *

Yori sighed when she returned to the Yamanouchi school, she felt alone and badly needed to talk to Sensei but the headmaster of Yamanouchi was still on his way back from Middleton and it would be several hours before he would arrive at the school.

After finding out just how much she still cared for Stoppable-san when they had met again face to face, Yori felt she was right back at the moment where she had first heard that Stoppable-san was no longer available and that he, in fact, had never been truly available for her.

Even though Yori was sure she had played her indifference concerning Stoppable-san and Possible-san's being together well, she had the distinct feeling that Possible-san had not entirely bought it, although the redhead had sounded genuine when she had admitted that Yori sorta, kinda rocked.

"If I had asked sooner, things might have gone differently," Yori pondered as she tried to put away her emotions.

At least she got to see Hannah for a moment. Yori smiled weakly, the little girl could spend all the time with Stoppable-san, almost making the ninja feel jealous. But she hoped Hannah would find a good home with the Stoppables and that Ron would prepare her well for the coming ordeals.

* * *

**A/N: **As you've seen, this chapter is mainly based on a collection of episodes from the beginning of season 4. I hope you enjoyed reading.


	8. Clothes minded the prelude

Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks everybody for reviewing, I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Special thanks to _Kwebs _for beta reading.

**

* * *

Chapter 8: Clothes minded (prelude)**

"…And then he told us he scrapped the designs," Kim said, "after all we did."

"At least you weren't locked in a crate with Mr. Barkin," Ron countered, "fighting the fashionistas sounds a lot better to me."

"Yeah, you did a great job there in the end," Kim smirked, "Where is Mr. Barkin anyway? I haven't seen him since we got back from Milan."

The teens were sitting in the mall food court, waiting for Monique to end her shift as well; the raven-haired girl had to take a little longer due to her new tasks as an assistant manager.

"Hey guys," Monique said as she approached Kim and Ron.

"Hey Mon," Kim looked curiously at her friend, "Did they show you the new new designs?"

"I wish," Monique sighed, "They think I'm a liability now, even though I didn't say a thing about the old designs to anybody."

"Tell me about it," Kim muttered, still feeling a little stung by the fact that she had not been able to see the designs.

"I think I saw those fashion police guys take him in custody," Ron answered Kim's previous question."

"Who?" Monique asked, "Oh, you're talking about Mr. Barkin. Good thing they arrested him, or I would've."

Kim chuckled, "He did look ridiculous in that dress, how did that happen anyway?"

"Let's just say Mr. Barkin doesn't take well to being confined in a small place," Ron said; he had already been trying to suppress the memories of him and Mr. Barkin locked up in the crate and talking about it only brought the memories back.

"So we might be getting a substitute teacher for Mr. Barkin," Kim pondered, "That'd be new."

"That would be awesome," Ron cheered, " No-one ever replaced Mr. Barkin, all options are open."

"What options?" Monique asked, "It'll be just another substitute teacher for a few days."

"Monique," Ron smiled as he shook his head, "Mr. Barkin has never been substituted, no matter what. The world is changing, and I love the smell of change."

"You run away from change," Kim smirked, "You're just happy to miss a class given by Mr. Barkin."

"You did not get health class from him KP," Ron pointed out, "you don't know how it is down there."

"Drama much?" Kim chuckled, "You learned some valuable stuff in health class, even though you were too stubborn to act on it immediately. Mr. Barkin isn't as bad as you display him."

"Fine," Ron admitted with a sigh, "I did learn some stuff, but no more Mr. Barkin's health class, Booyah!"

Kim just shook her head, although she had to stifle a chuckle at her boyfriend's antics.

* * *

The next day Ron walked into health class with a smile on his face for the first time.

"What's gotten into you?" Jim asked.

"Big sis and you got smoochy in the hallway again?" Tim smirked.

"No more class from Mr. Barkin," Ron cheered, "and yes," he added with a grin, seeing the Possible twins grossed look; they liked to tease Kim and Ron about their dating, but they hated getting it right back in their face.

"You know I don't approve of PDA's on the school property," Mr. Barkin's deep voice made Ron leap over three tables before he tripped over the fourth table and collapsed in a heap on the ground.

"But you… I…" Ron stammered, "How did you…?"

"Miss. Sunnyday was so shocked to hear she had to replace me she had to take a month's leave," Mr. Barkin explained in his matter of fact way.

"But you were arrested by the fashion police," Ron whined.

"They made me sign a contract to never wear a dress again," the vice principal growled, "And some other items of clothing… I rather not talk about it. Now sit down, today we'll start with oral hygiene."

* * *

At Club Banana Kim was packing in some items of clothing for a costumer when Ron walked in, "Hey Ron, be with you in a moment." She turned back to the woman and handed her the bag of clothing, "That'll be $43,95."

After the costumer had left, Kim walked over to Ron and gave him a quick kiss, "So, Mr. Barkin got back anyway?"

"How do you know?" Ron asked surprised, "Did you also have a class from him?"

"No," Kim grinned, "The fashion police came in here earlier and told they had released him… So, oral hygiene started today?"

Ron's eyes grew wide, "Do you know everything?"

"Fresh breath," Kim laughed, "Mr. Barkin forced you to brush?"

"Tooth brushing is important," Ron grumbled, "but not while in class in front of impressionable freshmen, then it's just plain embarrassing. And he made me floss too, I never floss."

"Poor Ron," Kim tried to sound sincere but the image of Ron being forced to floss in class cracked her up too much and she couldn't stifle her giggles, much to Ron's dismay.

"I'm sorry Ron," Kim said, still failing to stop chuckling, "I know it must have been embarrassing… but I like the fresh breath," she added after giving Ron another soft kiss, making him forget about most of his embarrassments in health class that day.

Another costumer walked in, and seeing that Monique was still busy, Kim excused herself and went to help the woman, "I'll be done in a few minutes, why don't you already get us something at the food court?"

The costumer bought a few shirts and a pair of cargo pants, after Kim had ringed the items and the costumer left, the redhead walked over to Monique to check out.

"You know what's weird?" Kim pondered as she watched the costumer walk out of the store, "I suddenly got the feeling I lost something important, but I can't figure out what it is."

Monique shrugged, "I get the same feeling when I sell some clothes I would have liked to have, did you like the clothes the woman was buying?"

Kim thought for a moment, "Already got them… at least, the cargo pants."

"Oh right, the mission outfit," Monique said, "when are you going to change those anyway?"

Kim stood baffled for a moment, "I kinda like my mission outfit… it's not that out of fashion, right?"

Monique tilted her head, "You could use an upgrade, you've had the same set for… how long?"

Kim pouted slightly, "I've had this combination since we started Team Possible… but it works, right?" she quickly added, hoping to get approval from the Middleton High fashion maven.

"I'm just saying, something new might not be a bad thing," Monique pointed out, "you're known all over the world… just think about it, okay?"

* * *

"What's gotten you down KP?" Ron asked as Kim slumped down next to him.

"Do you think my mission outfit is outdated?" Kim asked.

"You're asking me?" Ron asked confused, "After you've talked to Monique?"

"Monique thinks I need a new outfit," Kim explained, "but I like my set, it's part of what makes me Kim Possible, right?"

"I guess," Ron pondered, "do you think you can fight villains in a different outfit?"

"I already did… sometimes, when it's cold, or when I couldn't change… Shego also always wears the same outfit."

"Relax KP," Ron held up his hands in, "I'm on your side, remember? I didn't say you had to change."

"You're right, I'm sorry," Kim gave Ron a small kiss on his ear, "Forgive?"

"Theehee, that tickles… of course, you'd forgive me if I accidentally told Mr. Barkin that we've been making out in the hallway, right?"

Kim's smile fell, "You what?"

"He stood behind me, I didn't know," Ron tried to explain himself, "and Jim and Tim asked, and…" he was stopped by Kim putting her finger on his lips.

"Ron, it's okay. Just… try to keep private things private, okay? Don't tell the tweebs and don't blurt out in the mall."

"You mean things like…" again Ron was stopped.

"Yes, things like…" Kim smiled, but made sure Ron got the point, "Want to take a walk in the park before we head home?"

"Sure," Ron, glad he was out of trouble, smiled, "So, what are you going to do about the mission outfit thing?"

Kim shrugged, "For now, let's just keep it; I like it, and there are plenty of pants and tops to go around."

"Yeah, ever since your style got famous for a week the stores have been filled with them," Ron agreed.

"Saves me from storing piles at home in case they get damaged," Kim grinned, "I can just buy them right at Club Banana."

"Or Smarty Mart," Ron pointed out, "they're the same, remember?"

"They're not the same," Kim said firmly, "check the label."

"But they have the same…" Ron caught himself before he got into another useless discussion about the difference between Smarty Mart and Club Banana, "forget it, let's go to the park."

* * *

BEEB-BEEB-BEEEB-BEEB

"hmh?" Kim drowsily tried to shut off her alarm clock

BEEB-BEEB-BEEEB-BEEB

Kim turned around and grabbed for the Kimmunicator, after several tries she got it, "What's the sitch Wade?"

"Sorry to wake you up at this time," Wade said from the Kimmunicator screen; he too looked quite sleep deprived, "I just got an urgent message from Dr. Director, I'll put her through."

Dr. Director's face appeared on the screen, "Where are you, did you not get our earlier message?"

"What?" Kim asked confused, unsure whether she was still asleep, "It's three in the morning, what are you talking about?"

"We just found out that Gemini is working a massive plot in Lowerton," the leader of Global Justice explained, "Agent Will Du managed to locate and enter his organization with most of our locally positioned agents, he should already have contacted you for assistance."

"Clearly he didn't," Kim smirked, starting to get fully awake, "But he can handle, right?"

"I wish he would," Dr. Director looked down embarrassed, "We haven't heard from him or his team for over an hour. First we thought you were with them, but then we asked Wade for an update and he didn't know what was going on."

Kim was now fully alert, "Do you think Will has been captured?"

"I am afraid so," the one-eyed woman nodded.

"We're on it," Kim promised as she switched back to Wade, "Got it all?"

"Yeah," Wade told, "I'm already working the data from the tunnel system Gemini seems to have installed under Lowerton."

"What's with those guys and tunnels," Kim muttered, "Anyway, give Ron a call, I'll pick him up with the Sloth in a couple of minutes."

* * *

"Remind me again what we're doing here?" Ron asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes; the teens stood in the pouring rain on an abandoned terrain just outside Lowerton.

"Wade said there is a WWEE tunnel entrance somewhere around here," Kim said as she looked at the Kimmunicator screen, "We should be able to enter from there."

"I mean, why are we standing in the middle of the night in a rainstorm?" Ron shivered and looked wishfully at the Sloth that stood hidden a few dozen yards away.

"Dr. Director asked us to help," Kim explained, careful not to show her own annoyance with the sitch, "And even though Will refused out help, I won't leave him captured by Gemini."

"How are you so sure he got captured?" Ron insisted, earning him a raised eyebrow from his girlfriend, "Okay, so he does tend to get into trouble, but even then…"

"Found it," Kim interrupted as she lifted a well concealed trap door, "Wanna get in, or stay here in the rain?"

"I want to go home and sleep some more," Ron muttered as he followed Kim into the tunnel.

"Why can't the villains move further away?" Ron continued his complaining inside the small tunnel, "At least then we can get some sleep on the way over there."

"Hush," Kim held up her hand, "people could hear you."

Moments later the teens could hear voices coming in their direction, as they hid around the corner Kim and Ron could see two WWEE agents walking through the adjacent tunnel.

"I can't believe he forces us to do this night patrols," one of the agents, and older man, complained.

"Shh," the other agent, a younger female with the letter 'P' on her chest – it could also have been an 'R' - said, "Or do you want to end up 'taking a seat'?"

"Of course not," the older agent sighed, "Anyway, shall we grab a coffee before the next round?"

"Sounds good to me," both agents disappeared from sight.

"Which way to go?" Ron asked, "Follow them or look for the GJ agents somewhere else?"

"Let's split up," Kim said, "I follow those two agents, we'll keep in contact with the blinkers." The blinkers were transmitters embedded in the teens' watches that gave a small vibration when signaled; this allowed them to keep in contact without making a sound.

As Ron ran off in the direction the agents had come from, Kim followed the agents and was soon sneaking up behind the two.

Two lighting-fast strikes to a pressure point in the unsuspecting agents' necks made them fall over unconscious. Kim quickly dragged them into a supply closet and tied them up after having removed the female agent's suit and having switched it for her own; the redhead was not inclined on leaving the other woman tied up in only her underwear and besides, Kim could not wear her mission cloths under the tight WWEE uniform anyway.

After finally managing to hide her hair under the flexible helmet, Kim put on the goggles and was surprised that she could still clearly see everything in the tunnel, maybe even better, "And I always thought those things were just for esthetics."

* * *

Ron had a little less luck; he was spotted before he could search far.

"Hey you?" An agent with the Greek letter Delta on his chest, said, "What are you doing here."

Just before Ron could get ready to attack the agent to prevent him from warning any others, Gemini stepped out from behind agent Delta, "Ron Stoppable? What are you doing here?"

"Uh…" Ron thought frantically, "Remember the offer you made me when you kidnapped me? Well, I decided that I do want to become agent Alpha."

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Gemini smiled slightly as he aimed his bionic hand at Ron, "Where is Kim Possible?"

It took Ron all his guts to stay in place, "Like I said, she's not here, I'm here alone because I want to join WWEE."

"Hmm…" Gemini pondered for a moment, "Then you surely wouldn't mind us keeping you in check while we search for Kim Possible, right?"

"Right," Ron said hesitantly, hoping very hard that Kim could remain hidden.

* * *

Kim was trying to find her bearings in the maze-like tunnel system. "How can they make sense of this," the redhead muttered as she yet again arrived at the coffee corner; every tunnel seemed to bend back to this place, except of course for the secret entrance tunnel she and Ron had used to get in, but that tunnel only took her outside of the network.

"Hey you!" Kim spun around to face two WWEE agents who had appeared from the only tunnel she had not yet inspected, "What are you doing here?"

"Just getting a coffee," Kim kept her voice calm, "It's pretty late, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," one of the agents held out a small poster, "Break's over, we got to find this girl; Kim Possible."

For a moment Kim thought the agent had held out a mirror; the picture was frighteningly recent, she made a mental notice to tell Wade to check their security on that point.

"What makes you think she's here?" Kim asked, afraid she already knew the answer.

"Apparently her sidekick came here wanting to join WWEE, we'll just check if he's speaking the truth."

"Okay, well I haven't seen anyone here in a while," Kim said, "So I doubt she's here."

"We'll check anyway, there is a hidden entrance here," the WWEE agent told.

The other agent frowned, "Didn't I see you earlier today with agent Theta?"

"Yeah, he went home early," Kim hoped the agents would fall for her ruse, "He felt sick."

"Hmm," the agent was still unconvinced, but his buddy impatiently pushed him towards one of the tunnels, "Check that one out, immediately signal if you found her, don't fight her alone."

Kim was flattered by the apparent respect, but then she remembered the closet with the tied up agents, "I'll go check that one." she pointed at the tunnel leading to the hidden entrance.

"Alright, we'll meet back in five minutes. When you don't check in, we'll sound the alarm."

* * *

As Kim walked towards the closet, she signaled Ron with the blinker; one short and one long signal _"Are you okay?"_

Much to her relief, moments later two short signals returned, indicating that Ron was indeed okay.

Kim then checked on the two agents she had captured; they were still unconscious and, of course, still tied up.

* * *

"Nothing there," Kim said as she met up with the other two agents, "and the entrance still seems to be locked," she pretended to think for a moment, "Don't you think she would go to the captured Global Justice agents to try and rescue them."

"Don't! Say that word," the other agent warned, "you know how Pepe reacts to that… and how Gemini reacts to his dog getting yappy."

"I'm sorry," Kim said, but she began to snicker too as the other agents started to laugh softly; Gemini's dog was often a laughing stock when the leader of WWEE wasn't around.

"It's actually not a bad idea," the agent agreed, "she's obviously not here, we might as well check out there."

Kim followed the two other agents, Phi and Omega, further into the network, "Have you ever met these goons from GJ?" Omega still used the abbreviation just to make sure that when Gemini did overhear the consequences wouldn't be dire.

"Some," Kim shrugged, not giving away anything.

"Well, this one agent - he is the leader of the group we captured – is a real piece of work, he walked straight into our trap and even forced his underlings to follow although they did seem to see the trap… and now he's scolding them for not having put up a better fight."

"Did he by any chance call himself 'Will Du'?" Kim asked with a slight grin.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Phi asked, his suspicion rising again.

"I heard about him," Kim was quick to recover, "They say he's the best GJ has to offer," the redhead felt a little guilty for downplaying Global Justice, but at least the agents seemed to go with it and began to laugh again.

"Makes you wonder why Gemini still can't win," Omega chuckled, "maybe it's just bad luck."

"Or that Kim Possible," Phi pondered, "I've been with WWEE for quite a while and we did pretty well until Gemini wanted to harvest the 'Ron factor' and got Team Possible involved."

"Whatever," Omega shrugged, "we're here, want to tease that guy Will Du a bit?" he asked as he walked to the cells where the Global Justice agents sat.

* * *

Will Du looked up angrily at the WWEE agents that had arrived, when he spotted a familiar face, "Kim Possible?" he blurted out before Kim had the chance to stop him.

Agent Phi and agent Omega spun around, only to be knocked out simultaneously by Kim, "Sorry, wish it could have gone another way."

As the agents fell to the ground, Kim walked over to the cells, "Now how to open this thing…"

"Why are you here," Will demanded, "I can handle this on my own."

"So I see," Kim smirked as she looked at the control board; apparently to open the cells a key was needed which was nowhere to be seen.

"Then we'll do it my way," Kim mumbled, mainly to herself, as she picked out her laser lipstick from the small pocket on the WWEE uniform. The cell locks gave little resistance to the powerful laser and soon the doors could be opened.

"Well, well," Gemini said as he appeared in the door opening at the moment Kim was trying to pull the cell doors open, "Seems like agent Alpha was lying after all."

Ron, dressed as agent Alpha – a status he had received mere minutes ago – walked in behind Gemini, "Kimberly Anne Possible, why did you follow me, you know I wanted to quit Team Possible months ago."

Both Gemini and Kim was completely confused for a moment, but Kim recovered quickly when she realized that Ron had been talking like Zorpox, a game they sometimes played where Ron pretended to have become evil again… also a game they hoped Kim's father would never find out about.

"But Ron," Kim plead, hoping to confuse Gemini even more, "I never knew you wanted to join WWEE, you know they're the most dangerous villains we got."

"And that's exactly why I wanted to join them," Ron smirked, "face it KP, we got you outclassed, surrender and you won't get hurt."

'KP', Ron had used his usual abbreviation of Kim's name. That, and the quick three-burst signal – _action_ - he sent through the blinker told Kim enough; Ron had a plan, "I'll never surrender, I can take you down easily."

As Kim got into a fighting position, Gemini aimed his bionic hand, "This will be quick and painful."

But before Gemini could shoot his rockets from the fingers of his bionic hand, Ron leaned over to Pepe, who sat on Gemini's other arm, and whispered, "Global Justice."

* * *

The effect was immediate; the shivering Chihuahua began to bark and yap wildly, causing Gemini to reflexively stroke the little dog and mutter soothing words, "Shh Pepe, it's okay, they're not here…" his words were cut short when the already activated rockets suddenly shot out of his hand, barely missing Pepe and hitting the wall in a frenzy of explosions.

The distraction was more than enough for Kim to get into action; in a split second she crossed the distance between her and Gemini.

Ever since Team Possible had first met Gemini, Wade had developed some countermeasures for the man's bionic hand. One of the best of these gadgets was the glue pellet; a small ball filled with fast flowing and quickly hardening glue that adhered best to metal.

The glue pellet did its job to perfection, immediately disabling Gemini's bionic hand and, as a bonus; disable the leader of WWEE fully when he tried to pry the glue off with his other hand, causing his hands to stick together and making him lose his ability to shock anyone nearby as well.

Without Gemini in charge, the other WWEE agents were quickly captured by the freed Global Justice agents. And all the rescue force sent by Dr. Director had to do was provide transportation back to the GJ headquarter.

* * *

"You're too late," Kim smirked as Dr. Director walked in, "But we could use a hand cleaning up here."

"Thank you Kim," Dr. Director said, "for capturing Gemini and rescuing my agents."

"You asked her for help?" Will asked, "I was about to foil Gemini's plans and additionally gather more Intel on future plans when Miss Possible barged in an ruined everything."

"I…" Kim was unable to say anything as she was seething with anger.

Will gave a small condescending smile, "But you did capture Gemini, so thank you for your assistance." With that he walked off to help bring all the captured WWEE agents to the GJ planes.

Ron had to physically restrain Kim from attacking the Global Justice agent, "Why don't we go back home and catch some sleep, okay?"

"No," Kim easily broke free from Ron's grip on her hands; after seeing she seemed to be in control of herself Ron did not try to catch her hands again, "I'd like to file an official report as our status as freelance agents allows."

Dr. Director frowned, "Are you sure, it is a lot of paperwork, that's why we don't force freelance agents to make official reports on their actions."

"I'm sure," Kim said firmly, "Will has done this before and I'm sick with it, who does he think he is?"

"The highest ranking agent in Global Justice," Dr. Director answered with a sad smile, "except for the commanding staff… not entirely by my choice however; he does have connections in high places. His parents are… influential to Global Justice."

"But you do think he is a good agent?" Ron inquired.

"For several purposes," Betty Director came to her agent's defense, "he is the best with paperwork and very good in locating wrongdoers. In the field he can be… obnoxious sometimes."

"So I noticed," Kim smirked, "but I will still file a report, I don't care who his parents are."

* * *

Writing out the report took another good hour, and much to Ron's dismay Kim insisted on writing it immediately, "KP, it's almost morning, can't we do this at some other time?"

"Ron, I told you before, now we still remember most of it," Kim said, "and I won't have Will dismissing this report because we wrote it too long after the fact."

"Fine," Ron sighed, reluctantly accepting the fact that he would probably not get any sleep for the remainder of the night.

"Thanks Ron," Kim smiled, "I know you want to go back to bed, I want that too, but I'm full of Will downplaying us every time."

"It's okay," Ron gave a weak smile, "I know how you feel about this, let's just get this over with."

"Okay," Kim returned her gaze to the GJ computer she was working on, "So, tell me your side as best as you can remember."

Ron did as told, and afterwards he checked Kim's part of the mission and the part they had both been involved in, "Seems okay to me, together with what the WWEE agents told you this should shut up Will for a while."

After having filed the report with Dr. Director, there was not much for the teens to do than wait for the report to be processed, which could take several days.

When Kim checked her watch, she was shocked to see that it was already well into the morning, "We have to get to school."

"What?" Ron cried out, "We haven't had any sleep… and you're still dressed in a WWEE uniform."

"Oh no, my mission clothes," Kim jumped up and ran back to Dr. Director's office to ask for her clothes back. Shortly after she returned with an annoyed frown, "The WWEE agents' clothes have already been destroyed… I can't believe I forgot to change back."

"It's just another set of mission clothes," Ron told, "You've got plenty, right?"

"Well…" Kim thought for a moment to recall all the locations she had stashed a set, "I think I'm starting to run low, and it isn't payday at Club Banana for another two weeks."

"Then buy some at Smarty Mart," Ron suggested, "there's a huge discount on the cargo pants at the moment."

"So not," Kim immediately dismissed the idea, "The sets I have can hold out for another two weeks, speaking of which, I've got a set of mission clothes at school, beats walking around all day like this."

"I don't know," Ron grinned, looking at the form hugging uniform, "You might get more looks in a WWEE uniform than in your mission clothes, you certainly got my attention."

Kim smiled deviously, "I'm sure I do. Nevertheless, you really want to have all the guys at school looking at me like this?"

"You win," Ron chuckled, "Mission clothes it is."

* * *

Kim and Ron just had enough time to get to Middleton High where Kim could change before classes started.

The first two classes were not much of a problem for Kim, but during the third class fatigue began to set in and Kim was starting to have trouble keeping her eyes open.

Looking to her side, she saw Ron sitting straight up, eyes open and a vague smile on his face, "Ron, how do you manage to stay awake?"

Ron did not respond, instead he began to snore softly, temporarily baffling Kim.

"Ron!" she poked her boyfriend to wake him up before the teacher, not surprisingly Mr. Barkin, would walk in and notice Ron was asleep.

"Huh? What?" Ron blinked and looked around him, "I didn't put a tack on your seat Mr. B."

"What?" Kim asked confused, "You were sleeping with your eyes open."

Ron stared back at Kim, "But I was in class, we were having statistics and Mr. Barkin asked what the chances were of someone having placed a tack in his seat."

Kim chuckled, "Well, statistics is about to start, and you know what the chances are of Mr. Barkin sending you to detention when he catches you sleeping in class."

"Aw man," Ron whined, "I'm so tired."

"Me too," Kim admitted, "we'll just have to hold out two more hours after this."

As Mr. Barkin walked in, he shot a short glare at the two exhausted teens, making sure they got the message what he thought of them pulling an all-nighter on a school night, regardless the necessity. Then he walked to his desk and started class like nothing was wrong.

Ron held his breath for a moment when the vice principal sat down; his dream still fresh in his memory, but nothing happened. Mr. Barkin started droning on about cumulative chances and Ron was soon having very much trouble staying awake.

After what seemed like an eternity, the class was over, giving Kim and Ron some time to recover a bit during lunch break.

The teens sat down at one of the tables in the school canteen; too tired to walk to Bueno Nacho, even too tired to care much about what was on the menu. But as soon as they slumped down, Bonnie walked over to their table.

"So… why are you walking around in those rags?" the brunette questioned looking at Kim, "You know you have a reputation to hold up, right?"

"Why do you care Bonnie?" Kim asked tiredly; she really did not want to discuss anything with Bonnie right now.

"You're a cheerleader," Bonnie told exasperated, "And top of the food chain, when you falter, you'll pull us down as well."

"Us?" Kim shook her head as if to clear it, "it seems you're the only one who cares."

"Don't you remember that the homecoming king and queen will be voted soon," Bonnie said, "And I don't want to lose my popularity vote because I belong to a cheerleader team which captain doesn't dress properly."

"What?" Kim had to repeat the sentence in her head several times to make sense of it, and even then it didn't really, "The homecoming king and queen are not only chosen because they're so popular, they have all done their fair share for the school. And what did you do for the school Bonnie?"

The brunette glared angrily at the redhead, Bonnie knew full well that the only thing she had ever done was having a chocolate sale for new cheerleader uniforms; it had granted her three weeks of being captain in which the uniforms had been disapproved by the governing inter-school committee that regulated the cheer-leading events.

It had also taken Kim a full week to clean up the mess of delayed paperwork afterwards, but neither the redhead as the brunette had any intention of bringing that up right now.

"Hmpf," Bonnie huffed as she twirled her hair and turned her back to Kim and Ron, "You're just scared that I will become homecoming queen instead of you."

"Yes Bonnie, I'm terrified," Kim muttered when her rival was out of earshot.

"Don't let her get to you," Ron told, "she's just jealous."

"I guess…" Kim looked down at her spare mission outfit, "But she was right about one thing, this mission set it done for."

Ron had to admit that Kim, and Bonnie, had a point there; the spare set that had been laying in Kim's locker for a long time was starting to break down, one of the sleeves of the crop top was torn and the cargo pants were showing signs of wear, especially around the knees.

Kim shrugged, "It's only for today, and I've got another set at home, I think I can make it until I get my paycheck again."

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry for the longer wait, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to be a little quicker with the next chapter.


	9. A fallen queen

Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks everybody for reviewing, I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Special thanks to _Kwebs _for beta reading.

**

* * *

Chapter 9: A fallen queen**

"Good morning Mrs. Dr. P," Ron greeted as he entered the Possible residence.

"Morning Ron," Mrs. Dr. Possible smiled, "Kimmie is in the living room, writing application letters."

"Again?" Ron asked, "She must have covered the entire world by now."

Kim's mother chuckled, "Actually, she just finished up Europe, I think Asia is next."

"And to think I thought I did much by applying to most colleges and universities in America…"

"I'm just glad that mailing college and university application letters is paid for by the school," Mrs. Dr. Possible laughed, "or Kimmie would have spent a fortune."

"Are you talking about me?" Kim asked curiously as she walked in with a pile of envelopes, "This is the last stack for Asia, now only Australia to wrap it up."

"And then you've applied to every college and university in the world?" Ron asked as Kim gave him a kiss in passing while she placed the pile of paper on the table.

"Of course not," Kim laughed, "I've been doing some research on the universities beforehand, and I selected the ones I may want to apply to."

"That would probably be a good idea for me too," Ron pondered, "I don't think Mr. Barkin approves of me applying to every college in the world like I did for America."

Kim stared at her boyfriend, "You actually applied to every college?"

"I tried to," Ron admitted, "but Mr. Barkin sat me down and helped me filter out the colleges that I would have no interest in partaking, and the ones that weren't really suited for me."

"How many 'All female' colleges did you actually apply to?" Kim smirked, referring to her interception of several of such college applications Ron had written.

"It was just a mistake," Ron defended himself, "It's not like the name gave them away."

"Mississippi University for Women, Texas Woman's University," Kim counted off on her fingers, naming two of the college application forms she had intercepted.

"Ok, I give you those," Ron muttered, "I just had a large list, and it was late…"

"It's okay Ron," Kim chuckled, "come on, we have to get to school."

* * *

"Good morning Mr. Barkin," Kim smiled as she handed the vice principal her latest stack of application forms, "These should be the last ones… maybe also some in Australia though."

Mr. Barkin sighed as he received the pile of paper, "Overdoing this can also be a problem, for you and Stoppable both, you have to narrow down your choice eventually."

"I know," Kim said, "but first I want to see which universities actually want me, maybe then I can get a better focus on what I want for my further career."

"Still with the college application forms?" Monique asked as she passed Kim and Mr. Barkin in the hallway.

"Yeah," Kim chuckled, "but I'm almost done now. Do you already know what you are going to choose?"

"Fashion baby," Monique grinned, "never been a choice, I was destined for fashion."

Kim laughed at her friend's almost sacred love for fashion, "Speaking of which, how's the set of mission outfits doing?"

"Going great," Monique told with a huge smile, "I've got three more sets almost ready. You should have thought a lot sooner about having Club Banana as sponsor."

"It was your idea," Kim said, "I've would have never thought of such a thing."

"Well, it sure lowers your costs," Monique grinned, "and it got me into the fashion section of Club Banana, also thank Rufus for that from me."

"I will," Kim chuckled; although Rufus had handed the idea to Monique, the actual drawing had been made by the Fashionistas, and they had not been too pleased when Kim had shown up at the prison wearing her new outfit. Of course, the fashion criminals had nothing to back their claim, but Kim had felt guilty and had asked the prison guard to allow the Fashionistas a little more fashionable prison outfits.

* * *

School was not much of a problem during the rest of the day, with the exception of Mr. Barkin cornering Kim to ask whether she had planned any advanced placement classes since her high GPA scores would certainly allow for that.

This time Kim had been prepared; the week before, when her parents had been taking her to their respective Alma Maters, they had also discussed options for Kim to further improve her chances to get into a good university. Her parents had told Kim that they would gladly pay the extra costs it would take to enroll their daughter in the advanced placement program.

"I was hoping to attend to AP Spanish and the AP US government and politics," Kim smiled smugly, believing this time she had been fully prepared.

Mr. Barkin nodded approvingly, "Two courses that would certainly be helpful if you decide to continue your career of global crime fighting," Kim blinked in surprise at the vice Principal's comment; Mr. Barkin had never shown much interest in her and Ron's occupation. "I take it you have already decided whether you want a private teacher or take the course at the Upperton University?" Mr. Barkin continued, "Seeing as Middleton High School does not have the capacity to offer AP courses in its school grounds."

"Uhm…" Kim felt like she was shrinking again, just like when Mr. Barkin had questioned her about whether she had already been planning her further career, "_How can he corner me every time like that? I thought this would be easy."_

"I see…" for a moment Kim thought she could see a hint of a smile on Mr. Barkins face, "I would suggest taking the course at the Upperton University, Mr. Renton is also going to attend classes there."

Kim's smile returned, "Felix is going to take AP as well? Spankin', then I won't have to go there alone."

* * *

"So Felix, what courses are you going to do?" Kim asked as she and Felix drove to the Upperton University for the first time, they were driving in Felix's adapted minivan that allowed him to steer from his wheelchair, "I bet it's computer science."

"Got it right in one," Felix grinned, but Kim could swear he was slightly blushing, was he holding something back?

As they arrived at the University campus, Kim was momentarily awestruck by the size of the campus; for all her world traveling she had spend hardly any time on a campus, and the few times she had it had been night. Currently, at daytime, the campus was crawling with students moving about; and this was only a small University, Kim wondered for a moment how the large Universities she had applied for would be.

Felix rode up next to her, "Pretty big, huh?"

"Yeah," Kim mumbled, "this is going to take some getting used to."

Fortunately, they could easily find their way and the other students did not pay much interest to the teens, "Way cool ride," a couple of guys carrying a cart with computer parts remarked, pointing at Felix's wheelchair.

When Kim arrived at the lecture hall for her Spanish course, she noticed Felix was still with her, "Uhm… this is Spanish class, I thought you took computer science?"

"I do that too," Felix told, his earlier blush returning.

It took Kim a moment to put the pieces together, "Zita?"

"Yeah," Felix admitted, "Although I already wanted to take an AP language class, I only decided it to be Spanish when Zita and I started to go steady."

"That's so sweet," Kim smiled, then she noticed the room was already starting to fill, "Come on, we don't want to be late for our first class."

* * *

"You know," Kim sighed, looking at the pile of homework in front of her, "This is harder than I thought."

It had been several weeks since Kim and Felix had started their AP courses, and Kim was having a hard time juggling the extra homework with her normal homework, extracurricular work and crime fighting.

"But why did you take those extra classes?" Ron asked, "You know what happened the last time you took too much on your plate."

Kim winced; the last time she had drowned herself in work she had to resolve to super speed shoes that had kept her at lighting speed for almost three days. On the plus side, it had helped Kim wrap up all of her work and more once she figured out how to stop in the proper location. But on the down side it had completely disrupted her metabolic system for several weeks and caused her mother to force Kim to drop at least half of her extracurricular work. Fortunately Ron had remained at her side and had prepared high-energy meals she could hold in for the entire time she needed it.

"I can manage," Kim told, earning her a frown from her boyfriend, "Really, I can… I just need some time to get into this politics stuff, and Spanish is a bit harder than I expected… I thought I was pretty decent in the language whenever we went to South America."

Due to their globetrotting Kim and Ron had picked up some words in many languages, and since Kim had usually been the speaker whenever their contact wasn't very good at or did not speak English, she was the one with the most experience in foreign languages. And even though Ron had a very interesting and unusual skill when it came to talking with animals, his vocabulary had not expanded much beyond a few lines in Latin and "!Yo amo esta lugar!" to express his love for Bueno Nacho during the time the teens had worked there.

"Ok, I can understand why you want to study politics…" Ron said, "Actually, I can't, but I can see why you would do it. But why Spanish, aren't there cooler languages, you took French once, right?"

"I did," Kim admitted, "but that was only a short course, Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world, it pays to know at least some of it."

"I guess," Ron sighed, "how long do you want to study here anyway?"

The teens, mainly Kim, had decided to do their studying in the library where Kim would have easy access to the literature without having to bring piles of books home with her.

"You can go home if you like," Kim told, "I want to finish this first. Besides, didn't you want to take the opportunity to do your homework as well?"

Ron looked at his stack of – mainly unfinished - homework; although it was much smaller than Kim's, his stack had barely lowered while Kim was already more than three quarter down on her work. "This will be just a little bit of work, I can wrap the rest off at home?"

"Really," Kim smirked, but was interrupted by the school intercom crackling.

"Miss Possible, please report to the Principal's office," Mr. Barkin's voice called.

Kim and Ron looked at each other; it was already past four and there wasn't any cheerleading and football practice that day, "What do you think he wants?"

"I don't know," Kim shrugged as she stood up, "I hope to be back shortly."

"I try to get some work done," Ron sighed, "Do you know where I can find 17th century history?"

"Third row on your left," Kim pointed, "second shelf from the bottom, there's most of the 17th century stuff."

Ron stared at his girlfriend, "How do you know that? I thought Mr. Barkin only gave me this assignment… why did I have to tell him history was no fun past-time."

Kim chuckled, "I spent a long night here filing all the books, remember? I kinda figured out the Hatchet Hexadecimal system… it's actually pretty handy once you get it."

Ron still stared as Kim walked out of the library; he picked up one of the library books and looked at the mess of words and symbols on the back, "How can anyone make sense of this…"

"Silence!" Mrs. Hatchet, the school's librarian snapped, "This is a library, people want to study here."

Ron looked around and was about to mention they were the only ones left in the library, but one glare of the middle-aged woman made him reconsider and he quickly continued with his homework.

* * *

"Take a seat," Mr. Barkin gestured to a chair behind a large oak desk when Kim walked in.

Kim looked confused at the desk, and then back at Mr. Barkin's own desk; there was hardly any other room left in the Principal's office, "Uhm… I don't think I can pull the chair out really, why don't I sit over there…" she began, pointing to two other chairs sitting against the other wall of the office.

One glare from the vice principal and Kim quickly stepped over to the desk and squeezed herself between the chair and the desk.

"_Talk about little room to move," _Kim thought as she sat uncomfortably behind the heavy desk; she couldn't even push it forward to gain a little breathing room.

"Miss. Rockwaller, Mr. Reager," Mr. Barkin called, "You can come in now."

Much to Kim's surprise Bonnie and Ronald Reager walked in, both a mix of shame and apprehension on their face. Kim also noticed Bonnie was not wearing the tiara that had found an almost permanent spot on the brunette's head ever since she had, against all odds, been elected homecoming queen last week.

"Now, before we start, I…" Mr. Barkin started, but was interrupted by Ronald.

"I admit it, I tampered with the election program," the teen told, fear clear in his eyes, fear actually for each person in the room, "But Bonnie forced me to."

Bonnie jumped up, "I never forced you to anything, I even offered you to go on a date!"

"Which you never did," Ronald Reager remarked, starting to get up as well.

"Sit down you two!" Mr. Barkin commanded, not hiding a shed of how he felt about what the teens had done, "And don't speak again until spoken to."

Bonnie and Ronald immediately sat down, thoroughly shaken by the edge in the vice Principal's voice.

Kim sat completely quiet, her hands slightly trembling as it slowly began to dawn to her what Bonnie and Ronald had done. A part of her mind suddenly understood the reason for the desk she was wedged behind and she had to force herself to take a few deep breaths before she felt ready to say anything.

"Y-you cheated with the voting system?" Kim questioned, unable to hide all the anger in her voice.

Somehow Bonnie felt that was the moment to make a snide remark, "It's not like I really needed it, I just didn't want a close tiebreaker to spoil my moment in the spotlight."

"You wouldn't have won without me," Ron Reager snapped; he too had his pride, "Kim had a solid 93 percent of the votes, and even then Tara and Hope took up most of the remaining votes."

Bonnie's face fell, "That can't be, I got to have had at least half the votes."

"Not a chance," Ronald smirked despite his own predicament, "You would have gotten close to twenty percent before you began acting as if you already had won a couple of weeks back."

For a moment images flashed before Kim's eyes; she and Ron as homecoming couple, having the interview, helping with the charity pancake sale, sharing the proper king and queen kiss… she felt betrayed, cheated on, stepped on… Kim didn't even know how she exactly felt, and to think she and Ron had gone through all the effort to help Bonnie find a new boyfriend.

"_Ron!"_ suddenly Kim could see Ron's face in front of her clear as day, completely relaxed and with his usual goofy smile, "KP, she's not worth getting all angry over… so she cheated her way to get her crown, is that what really counts?"

"But I would have won fairly," Kim objected, "people voted for me."

"And you still have those votes," Ron smiled, "they're just not registered. Bonnie has her tiara, and she has Junior, is that what you wanted?"

"No," Kim admitted; her pride that Ron had been voted homecoming king had already outshone her not being voted queen, "I got you."

With the same abruptness as he had appeared, Ron's face was gone again and Kim found herself looking at Mr. Barkin who was staring at her confused; Bonnie and Ronald Reager were still bickering so her little daydream couldn't have lasted long, and if she had actually said something, Mr. Barkin would have made a comment by now.

Finally the vice principal spoke, "I know you are angry, but I think its best if we…"

"No," Kim said with a surprisingly calm voice and even a hint of a smile on her face, "I know I should be angry, but I won't go down that road."

Mr. Barkin frowned, partly annoyed that he had been interrupted for the second time and partly in confusion of what Kim meant.

Kim braced her back against the wall and shoved the heavy oak desk a good twenty inches forward, immediately putting an end to the bickering between Bonnie and Ronald and making sure she had everyone's full attention.

"Bonnie," Kim turned to the brunette, "remember the little talk we had a couple of weeks ago? You're not getting votes for just popularity, you're chosen as homecoming queen for the stuff you do for the school and its students."

"As if," Bonnie muttered, but she had to admit Kim had a point.

"I think the original votes speak for themselves in that regard," Kim said, "But I hadn't thought you would have gone so low as to cheat to become queen."

"Well, since we still have the original votes, we can explain the situation and crown the proper queen," Mr. Barkin suggested, but Kim shook her head.

"No, it would be a tainted victory, and all it would really do is remove trust from the other students. I have a better suggestion."

Seeing as everybody looked intently at her, Kim gave a small smile, "You're the queen Bonnie, so you'd better act like it; do some voluntary work, help out in a few committees, and I don't mean try to take them over. Show that you're worth the crown you got."

Bonnie started to object, but was stopped by Mr. Barkin, "That sounds like an excellent idea to do on top of the punishment you were getting anyway," the vice principal said with small grin.

Bonnie and Ronald looked down, foreseeing lots and lots of detention time in the near future.

"Oh, and Bonnie," Kim told with a slight smile, "You may want to hold up to your promise of taking Ronald on a date."

* * *

"You've been very kind with the punishment for Mr. Reager," Mr. Barking observed after Bonnie and Ronald had left to start their detention time.

Kim smirked, "You clearly don't know how Bonnie is on a date."

Mr. Barkin couldn't help but let a small smile escape, "Very well, you're free to go. And I don't want to hear about you getting back at Miss. Rockwaller outside of the school grounds, is that clear?"

"Of course," Kim smiled, and then she walked out of the office and back to the library where she found Ron waiting outside.

"I just finished my homework when Mrs. Hatchet kicked me out," Ron told, "the last thing I saw her do was grab that book I stole from Monkey Fist and start chanting some weird stuff."

For the past year there had been rumors of mystical spirits helping the librarian filing her books late at night, but those were quickly discarded as the silly thoughts they obviously were. Mrs. Hatchet also vehemently denied the existence of said spirits.

Kim ignored Ron's last comment and pulled him in a tight hug, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Not that I'm complaining," Ron said confused, "but what's the occasion?"

"I'm just glad I got you," Kim smiled, "I wouldn't want to trade you for any stupid tiara of millionaire."

"Thanks… I guess," Ron smiled goofily, obviously still very confused, "But you're still not making much sense though. What did Mr. Barkin want anyway?"

"Just to put something straight," Kim grinned, "it's not really important."

* * *

As they walked home, Ron suddenly got a worried look on his face, "KP, you're taking these advanced placement classes even though you already got a GPA of 4, right?"

"Yes," Kim said, looking questioningly at her boyfriend.

"Well," Ron fidgeted a bit, "my GPA is a far cry from yours, and I don't think I would be any good with even more difficult classes than we already got… do you think it's even possible for me to get a chance at some of the universities you applied to?"

"Well, to start, I would love it if we could start college close to each other," Kim smiled, happy that she and Ron were on the same page there, "But we don't have to do the same thing; a lot of the universities I applied to are huge, and the range of career options is almost without limit, I'm sure there are lots of things you can take on that you would also enjoy."

"But what can I do to better my chances?" Ron asked.

Kim felt her pride swell for her boyfriend; he seemed to have finally gotten it, "Try to increase your GPA, look for references," Kim counted off on her fingers, "And it may be a good idea to have a talk with Mr. Barkin."

"I don't know about that last one," Ron said reluctantly, "I've seen how you came out of hose 'talks'."

"Okay, so I wasn't completely prepared," Kim admitted, "Mr. Barkin really helped me get on the way, I'm actually glad he got me started in time seeing how much work it was."

"I'll ask him for some advice," Ron sighed as he gave in, "What kind of references did you mean?"

"You can ask some teachers or mentors who may be willing to write a recommendation," Kim suggested, "or you can ask some experts in the field who we know; I even asked Dr. Director to write a recommendation."

"That's not a bad idea," Ron pondered.

Kim chuckled, "Ron, you shouldn't just copy what I did. I didn't ask Betty because of her influence; I'm actually considering a career in crime fighting or diplomacy."

"Those are two very different topics," Ron frowned.

"I thought so too," Kim said, "but ever since I started US government and politics I found out those two are frighteningly intertwined… it made me actually wonder how in the world we are allowed all the stuff we do…" Kim thought for a moment, "Actually, remind me to ask that from Dr. Director the next time we meet; there's got to be something behind it."

"Good idea," Ron agreed, "and I can then ask her for that recommendation."

Kim sighed, "Remind me again what your most likely direction of study will be?"

"Cooking, cuisine," Ron told, looking quizzically at Kim, "You already knew that, right?"

"I did," Kim grinned, "But do you think Dr. Director is really adequate to give a recommendation on that topic?"

"You're right," Ron pondered, "I should bring her something I cooked, thanks KP."

Kim shook her head, having a little trouble holding in her laughter, "Maybe you should also try some of the experts on restaurants and food, like Pop Pop Porter or Dr. Rotiffle," Kim rolled her eyes on the latter as Ron still only recognized the software developer because of his snack reviews.

"I should have thought of those," Ron said, "Thanks for helping me out on this."

"No big," Kim smiled, "I want you to be the best you can become too."

* * *

"KP," Ron asked the next day as the teens walked to their respective classes, "Why is Bonnie hanging up posters for the freshman spirit dance? I thought she didn't want to help in those committees."

"I guess she changed her mind," Kim smiled, "or maybe she thought that as a queen she must be there for her loyal subjects."

"That doesn't sound like Bonnie at all," Ron said suspiciously, "and you look like you know more of it."

"How would I know how Bonnie thinks?" Kim countered, "I think it's a good thing she is helping out more."

"You do know something!" Ron said triumphantly, "Tell me what it is?"

"What is what?" Monique asked as she walked up to her friends.

"It's nothing," Kim insisted, only succeeding in making Ron and Monique more curious.

"Girl, you got to spill," Monique told, "or IDIO."

"Idio?" Ron asked confused, "what's that?"

"I'll Drag It Out," Monique explained, "now tell us."

"No, not here," Kim said, "I'll tell you later, at Bueno Nacho, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else, okay?"

"Sure," Monique promised, "I won't talk."

"You know me KP," Ron agreed as well, "I won't tell anyone either."

* * *

Later that day, when the teens had settled at their usual booth at Bueno Nacho, Monique and Ron pressed Kim again to tell them what was going on.

"Ok, remember last week," Kim began, "when Ron and Bonnie were voted homecoming king and queen?"

"Yeah," Ron said, looking worried at Kim; Bonnie had given him a very inappropriate kiss at the JP Barrymoore's Pizza Partytorium and Ron feared for a moment that Kim was referring to that.

Monique, on the other hand frowned, "You still think she cheated, right? Well, I don't blame you for that, that girl doesn't deserve to be queen of anything."

"Well, that's the thing," Kim told, "Bonnie actually did cheat her way to become queen. Mr. Barkin found out yesterday."

"That was what the talk was about?" Ron asked.

"What talk?" Monique questioned, and Kim shortly explained what had happened the day before.

"That girl needs a serious beat-down," Monique growled, "Why did you go so soft on her?"

"I don't want to stoop to her level," Kim told, "she's tried to drag me down, sometimes successfully, more times than I care to remember."

"From Bonnie I would have expected it," Ron pondered, "but Reager… not so much."

"You try to say no to Bonnie," Kim smirked.

"She can be persuasive," Monique agreed. Ron nodded as well, "She's had many people jumping through hoops for her."

The look Ron gave her while he said that did not fall well with Kim, "So I tried to help her out a couple of times," she muttered, "it's not like I'm that naïve to fall for it every time."

"Of course not," Ron hasted to say, "You're a good, giving person. It's just a shame that people like Bonnie take advantage of that."

"I just like helping people," Kim shrugged.

BEEB BEEB BEEEB BEEB

"Speaking of which," the redhead grinned as she pulled the Kimmunicator out of her bag, "What's the sitch Wade?"

"There is a huge evacuation practice about to start in Lowerton," Wade told.

"I know," Kim said, "I read about it in the paper, what about it?"

"Team Possible is asked to join in," the technical genius explained.

"Bit late, don't you think?" Ron remarked.

"Yeah, but two of the teams that were supposed to come couldn't make it and they really need some extra help."

"Just how many teams are working on this?" Kim asked.

"Nine," Wade told, "Mostly firefighters, but also some ERO teams are joining in."

"Okay, for once you got me," Monique said, "What's an ERO?"

"Emergency Response Officer," Ron promptly said, with a smirk on his face, "Even I know that."

Chuckling at Monique's huff when the girl was played at her own game, Kim felt she had to explain why Ron knew this, "Ron has had some… accidents while we were helping out at some company."

"I didn't know there was that much pressure on that valve," Ron muttered, "and everybody sometimes drops something, right?"

"Sure," Wade grinned, "so, are you up for this?"

"Why not?" Kim looked at Ron, who nodded as well, "Sorry we have to cut this short Monique."

"Actually," the raven-haired girl pondered, "would you mind if I came with?"

"Not at all," Kim said, "but why?"

"I just want to see how you do those things," Monique shrugged, "preferable from a safe spot, without being at risk of getting attacked myself."

"I can understand that," Kim laughed, "we'll just have to grab our mission outfit and we're ready to go."

* * *

"Kim, Ron, glad you could come," Darren Smith smiled as he greeted the teens, "We're already spread thin, so all help is welcome."

"No big Mr. Smith," Kim said, "We were in the neighborhood already anyway."

"I told you before, call me Darren," Darren told, then he turned to Monique, "You've got a new member in the team?"

"No sir," Monique said, a bit embarrassed, "I'm just here to watch."

"That's great," Darren smiled, "just wear this button and try not to pull attention to yourself." He handed Monique a relatively large button that said 'Observer', "Tell me what you thought of the operation afterwards."

Darren then directed Kim and Ron to the south side of the area, "In this situation one of the office buildings has caught fire and it has spread to adjacent buildings, we have to evacuate the workers and make sure spectators stay at a safe distance. You main task will be to check the building block adjoining the office building for stragglers."

"Sure thing," Kim nodded.

"When do we start?" Ron asked.

"In about half an hour," Darren told, "your technical guy already hooked your communication devices to our radio system so we can stay in contact."

* * *

Monique had found a nice spot where she would not be in the way but one that gave her a good look on the operation. She had heard of this kind of training simulations, but never had the chance to see one life.

"Hi," Monique looked to her side and saw a young girl, maybe nine or ten years old, looking back at her.

"Hey there," Monique smiled, "are you going to watch too?"

"Yeah," the girl told, "my mom plays a victim, she must pretend to have been caught in the fire in the office… she is really good with making fake wounds."

"That's nice," Monique had to suppress a shiver; why would anyone want to do that?

"Well, nice to have talked with you," the girl said as she got up again, "I'm going to look how my mom is acting."

"Don't you think it's dangerous inside the building?" Monique asked, but the girl was gone again. The raven-haired teen considered going after the girl, but decided against it; she would probably be safest with her mother anyway.

* * *

As the simulation progressed, Kim and Ron did not have a very difficult task to them, some 'stragglers' had been kindly asked to leave the building because of the fire and the group of spectators was efficiently moved to a safer place.

Kim was about to compliment Ron on the good handiwork when she saw him looking at the 'burning' office building.

"What are you looking at?"

"Does that building seem to be on fire to you?" Ron said while still looking at the building.

"Yeah, pretty good huh?" Kim smiled, "Daren told me they put some smoke generators for effect. It's with dry ice so there's no risk of inhaling chemicals."

"That doesn't look like generator smoke to me," Ron pointed, "It's too dark."

Kim looked again, "You're right, we'd better check what's going on."

She picked up the Kimmunicator and called Darren, "Darren, we spotted smoke coming from the 'burning' office building and it doesn't seem like fake smoke, do you know what's going on… this is no play."

The phrase Kim used at the end was often used in this kind of simulations to indicate something serious was going on.

"I'll check it out," there was a short silence before Darren's voice returned, this time much more worried, "There is no response from inside the building," there was another short lapse when Darren switched to the general frequency, "All teams, this is no play. The 'burning' office building seems to be actually on fire, and there is no response from the teams and the 'victims' inside. Repeat, this is no play."

In mere moments, the simulation was transformed into an actual rescue operation; various firefighter teams retrieved their trucks and prepared put out the fire.

"Kim, Ron," Darren said, "you two are closest to the building, can you try to get in and see what is going on? Help will arrive in a few minutes."

"Already on our way," Kim and Ron ran towards the office building while the 'stragglers' and the 'spectators' now kept the real spectators at bay.

When they entered the building, the teens already saw thick black smoke coming down the staircase, quickly putting in their respiratory devices – which worked as well under water as above – Kim and Ron went upstairs to help where needed.

It didn't take long before they found one of the teams, the firefighters were already busy trying to put out some of the fire, but it seemed that the cables inside the walls were burning; extremely hard to fight and giving terrible smoke.

"We *cough* lost our radio in the smoke," one of the firefighter told; clearly his own mask wasn't working that well anymore.

"Ron, lead them downstairs," Kim told, "I'll check further up."

Ron nodded and guided the firemen downstairs. Meanwhile, as Kim got higher up in the building, she noticed the fire was quickly spreading on the higher floors. But then she began hearing cries for help.

"Help us! Can anyone hear us?"

"I can hear you!" Kim shouted, "But I can't reach you, there is too much fire. Are you okay?"

"Yes," the other voice told, sounding relieved that someone heard them, "But there is a lot of smoke here."

Just as Kim tried to come up with a plan to get to the trapped teams, the first group of firemen arrived on the stairwell, carrying a hose with them.

The combined teams managed to douse the flames enough to allow the trapped team to escape, but the building was probably lost.

* * *

As Kim walked down, helping one woman who had inhaled a lot of smoke, she saw that Darren had also arrived at the scene. Like a general he ordered the teams around to help as best as they could. He also started a head-count to make sure everybody got out okay.

"Where's Stacy?" the woman, who was still leaning on Kim, suddenly said.

"Who?"

"My daughter, she wanted to see the simulation and I told her to go to the benches opposite to the building."

"I think that's where Monique went," Ron said, "I'll call her."

* * *

Monique was staring in awe at the scene that unfolded; clearly this was not part of the simulation as huge flames were bursting out of some of the office building windows.

Just then her cell phone chimed, "Hey Ron," she said when she saw the caller ID, "What is going on there?"

"There is a real fire," Ron told, "is there a little girl anywhere around where you are?"

"There was," Monique told, "but she went to see her mother… in the office building…"

* * *

"Oh no, Stacy!" the woman cried when she heard the news, "She could still be in the building."

She tried to get up and back into the building, but her weakened state didn't allow for more than a few staggering steps.

Kim caught the woman before she fell, "We'll check it out, don't worry."

The redhead quickly called Wade, "Wade, there may still be someone in the burning building, do you have a way of checking?"

"Maybe, Wade frowned, working double speed on his keyboard, "if the security camera system is still online… got it!"

Wade used all his computer screens to quickly glimpse at every camera image at the current moment while they played in reverse, "Found her," the tech genius beamed, "Tenth floor on the south side, the last image was from five minutes ago."

Kim looked at the displayed map, "We can't get there by the staircase; the fire has already gotten to there," she turned to one of the firemen, "can we reach the tenth floor with your truck's ladder?"

"Maybe, but you'll be cutting it close," the man told, "You may have to jump the last bit."

"We can do that," Ron said and the teens quickly followed the fireman to the truck.

* * *

The ladder of the fire truck reached up to halfway the ninth floor, fortunately for Team Possible it was easy to break open a window and jump into the building.

"Stacy!" Kim and Ron yelled as she proceeded through building, "Can you hear us?"

There was no reply, "Wade, got any updates?" Kim asked.

"No, I'm sorry," Wade told, "I'll call you as soon as I got something."

"You have to hurry," the firemen that had escorted the teens up the ladder shouted, "The fire is getting more intense by the minute." Smoke was already billowing through the hallways.

Since the ladder was too short to allow the heavily geared firemen in the building, they had to wait for another truck that had been called in. in the meantime, Kim and Ron had offered to cover as much safe ground as possible.

"Stacy!" Kim tried again when Ron pulled on her arm.

"Look at this," he pointed at a lollipop wrapper, "I bet that's not from one of the employees."

"Good looking Ron," Kim smiled as the teens walked into the hallway where the wrapper laid, "Stacy!"

After a few more calls they heard a soft whimpering from the end of the hall, quickly running towards the sound, the teens found Stacy curled up in the bathroom.

"Hey Stacy," Kim smiled, "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for my mommy," the girl sniveled, "But then there was all the smoke… and I'm scared."

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of here," Kim said.

"Here, hop on my back," Ron offered as he crouched down, "Then you'll be above most of the smoke," true enough, most of the thick smoke tended to stay close to the ground.

Moments later, the teens headed back to the window where they could exit the building. Just as they reached the window they encountered a fireman in full gear.

"We found her," Kim told. The fireman, unable to speak through his mask, nodded and helped Ron and Stacy onto the ladder of the other fire truck.

Kim followed quickly behind and the fireman closed the row.

"We have to hurry," Kim told, "The fire is spreading fast now."

As she spoke, several windows on the tenth floor exploded outward, forcing the teens to turn away to avoid getting hurt by the shower of glass.

When they looked again, they could see large flames bursting out all of the shattered windows.

The gush of fire was enough to rock the ladder, causing everyone on it to almost lose their grip. But they managed to hold on and rapidly climbed down the rest of the way.

When they got down, Stacy's mother immediately ran up and pulled her daughter in a tight hug, "You're okay… I was so worried."

Glad that Stacy and her mother ware fine, Kim turned her attention to the burning building; it was clear that it could no longer be saved, the only thing the firemen could do was prevent the fire from spreading to the other buildings.

* * *

Eventually the teens, and also Monique, helped out until close to midnight; keeping away the large crowd of spectators and helping people who had gotten hurt. The combined firefighter teams were able to save the buildings adjacent to the office building and around midnight they had the fire under control. By that time Kim, Ron and Monique were really starting to feel the long day and they decided to go home and catch some sleep.

After they had brought Monique to her house, Kim drove to Ron's home.

A quick goodbye kiss almost turned into a rather heated make-out session when Kim remembered the two had a meeting with Dr. Director the next day.

"Oh, I totally forgot," Ron perked up, "And I still have to make that chocolate cloud cake for Dr. Director."

"You still think it's a good idea to get a reference for cuisine from the leader of Global Justice," Kim chuckled, "Well, as long as I can get a piece of the cake as well…"

One final goodnight kiss later Kim drove off to her house, thoughts about Ron's delicious chocolate cloud cake making her completely forget about the coming discussion regarding her complaint report against Will Du.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the longer wait, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More to come up soon


	10. Talks and Birthdays

Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks everybody for reviewing, I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Special thanks to _Kwebs _for beta reading.

**

* * *

Chapter 10: Talks and Birthdays**

Betty Director sat in her office, softly massaging her temples; when things went wrong with bureaucracy, they went wrong big time.

Kim's report, although the redhead had had every right to write it, had caused several major outbursts in the Global Justice ranks, and some even higher up.

Will Du had not been pleased with Kim's version of what had happened during the attack on Gemini in Lowerton, even though most of the, if not all, other agents agreed with the teen heroine - even some of Gemini's agents did.

Even though Will had no intentions of using someone else's rank to get places, he was used to complaining to the only people in the world who always listened to him and agreed with him; his parents.

Unfortunately, Will's parents both held high status in government and federal affairs, and they had spouted their displease about their son's treatment.

This, in turn, had caused cascades of issues and old feuds to come up. Many times the discussions – or, to put a better word for it; the flat out verbal fights – had gone on above Dr. Director's rank and there was nothing she could do about it, but she was held responsible.

And to top matters off, there were rumors going on that not only the president could get involved, but also the person who practically controlled most of the world's international agencies.

Even Dr. Director didn't really knew who that person was, only that he was commonly called 'Z' and that his influence extended extremely far and that he was on good grounds with the presidents, prime ministers and kings of many countries.

Betty Director sighed; the least she could do was inform Team Possible about what happened with Kim's report, although she had to leave several parts out of the conversation for peace sake.

The leader of Global Justice snorted at the irony of the situation; Team Possible was one of the few, if not the only team that was not influenced from higher up but was still fully able to do what they did. Of course it could very well have something to do with the rumors that 'Z' had taken a liking for Team Possible since they still managed to work without commission or bureaucratic issues.

Dr. Director stood up to get a cup of coffee before her meeting with Kim and Ron began.

* * *

Kim parked the Sloth on the parking lot of a nondescript building that held one of the entrances to a more secure part of the Global Justice HQ in Middleton.

The teens stepped out of the car and entered the building. After passing a series of security checks they were allowed into the main headquarters of Global Justice where they met with Dr. Director.

"This is really good cake," Dr. Director told with her mouth full.

Ron smiled knowingly, "That's why I want to continue my career in culinary arts, but I need recommendations to get to the universities I want."

Dr. Director looked confused or a moment, until Kim explained, "He wants you to recommend him."

"I would love to," the leader of Global Justice said, "But do you really think my opinion in cuisine is that influential?"

"Told you," Kim smirked, meanwhile enjoying her piece of chocolate cloud cake.

But Dr. Director continued, "Ron, have you ever considered expanding beyond culinary arts?"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, "Can you get a higher level of cuisine?"

"I meant restaurant business," Betty explained, "have you ever thought about possibly owning your own restaurant?"

That had both Kim and Ron thinking for a moment; if Ron put his mind to it, he could certainly succeed. And then he could really let his creative mind fly free.

As Dr. Director began discussing various options with Ron concerning business schools and culinary arts though, Kim began to get the feeling that the woman was trying to divert the topic away as far as possible from the actual reason she and Ron had come here.

The redhead coughed gently, "Maybe we should continue this discussion later, I would like to stick to the main reason we came here."

Seeing Dr. Director's expression fall, Kim knew the woman had indeed been stalling the actual conversation.

"Yes," Dr. Director said, a bit reluctant, "the report you gave."

Kim frowned, "Something went wrong?"

"No," Betty smiled weakly, "In fact, you put up a great report; one I wish some of our own agents would use. It's the reaction to the report that is the problem."

"How so?" Ron asked, "If KP had a point, you would act accordingly, right?"

"Yes, and I did," Dr. Director sighed, "unfortunately, Will complained about it to the wrong people. And they are now trying to put as much dirt on me as possible." This was in fact a little more than Dr. Director had wanted to tell, but she felt the teens would find out anyway.

"But what did you do other than processing the report?" Kim asked, "If they want to be angry, they should be angry with me."

"They are," Betty chuckled, "However, they couldn't find anything on you, or so I've heard, so they took on the next best target."

Kim shook her head, "I don't like to say this, but there's plenty of embarrassing stuff on me… Shego, Bonnie and the tweebs sure know quite some of it."

Dr. Director smiled, "You do realize that what you mean is literally just teen issues, right? It wouldn't even raise an eyebrow on the levels we're talking about. On those levels, you're clearer than a crystal."

"I guess," Kim conceded, "but it's still an unfair thing Will's parents did."

Dr. Director blinked in surprise, "How did you know I meant Will's parents?"

"I didn't, until now," Kim grinned, "although I had a suspicion."

"Well, please don't boast that bit of knowledge around," Betty told, "I'm already having trouble making sure the leadership positions at Global Justice stay with the right people."

"Are you in danger of replacement too?" Ron suddenly asked, causing Dr. Director to stare at him in shock.

"What kind of spot on intuition do you have?" the head of GJ quickly recomposed herself, "It's only rumors, but some persons are pressing to squeeze me out and get Agent Du in."

Kim frowned, "Does Will want your position?"

"Heavens no," Betty said truthfully, "he wouldn't be able to complain to higher-ups anymore. His parent's though… whole different story."

"And they might be able to influence Will the way they can't with you," Kim concluded.

"That would be a bad thing," Ron added.

"Indeed," Dr. Director agreed, "

"Can we do something about it?" Kim asked.

"I doubt so," Dr. Director told, "but I would appreciate if you gave agent Du some leeway."

"Alright," Kim sighed, "but only as long as it doesn't increase our or anyone's risk during missions."

"That's all I'm asking," Betty smiled gratefully.

* * *

"Just because Will is being a crybaby we have to go easy on him," Kim muttered when the teens got back in the Sloth, "Just wait until we have an overlapping training schedule again."

"I don't think he will ever let that happen again," Ron smirked, referring to the time Kim and Will had faced each other due to the training schedule – a scheme set up to match various agents, freelance and full time alike, against each other with the best skill match as possible.

Will was actually a rather capable martial artist and knew various different fighting tricks, so the system had linked him with Kim. Unfortunately for him, Kim had just had a week full of workout by fighting Shego on two occasions and Monkey Fist with a dozen monkey ninjas, so beating the Global Justice agent was closer to relaxation time than exercise for the redhead.

"First Bonnie, now this," Kim was clearly still in a bad mood, "This is not a great week."

"Ah well," Ron smiled, "Next week ought to be better, birthdays are always a good thing, right?"

"Yeah," Kim's smile returned, "You're right, and I shouldn't fuss over the small stuff that much anyway… so what did you get me?"

"You try that every year," Ron chuckled, "It never works, you just have to wait."

Kim's face immediately reverted to a puppy dog pout, but years of experience had Ron covering his eyes long before the look could hit him, "Not working KP."

Kim smirked, "Then allow me to use a new strategy," leaning over to Ron, who was still covering his eyes, she gave him a long lingering kiss, "Ronnie, you would tell your girlfriend, right?"

"Still… not… working," Ron strained, his defenses clearly falling apart.

Kim sighed, "Okay… I'll wait, but someday I will drag it out of you."

With their annual game having turned the mood back up all the way, the ride back home was a lot more pleasant than Ron had worried for a moment.

* * *

Of course, even in one week a lot could happen. And so Team Possible found themselves with another mission aided by Global Justice.

"Don't worry KP," Ron tried to comfort his girlfriend after Wade had told them GJ was going to send an agent in as well, "I'm sure Dr. Director will not send him with us, not after our talk."

"I don't know," Kim muttered, "Fate usually has some nasty tricks for us in that regard."

The teens walked to the waiting Global Justice jet and stepped in, immediately they heard a stifled groan coming from the cockpit.

"Told you," Kim smirked with a slightly bitter expression, "Hello Will."

"Miss. Possible," agent Will Du nodded, unable to hide his own discontent.

"Well… uhm… maybe it's some sort of 'forced to get along' idea," Ron suggested, not really succeeding in lifting the mood.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Kim muttered as she set down, "Okay, we still have to do this mission, so we have to get along at least a bit… why don't we just put all the cards down and it in the open, then we'll see how it works out. We still have some time before the jet is warmed up, right?"

"Cards?" Ron asked confused, "This is not really to time to play a game, right?"

"Fine," Will Du said, ignoring Ron, "If that will make you improve your 'game' then we'll talk."

"What game?" when Ron's mind was focused on one question he wouldn't let go, unfortunately both Kim and Will chose to ignore him on this.

"That's the biggest problem I have with you," Kim snapped, "Do you have to be that condescending all the time? You could at least put your money where your mouth is."

Will's frown increased, "I have you know I have an extremely high success rate as a Global Justice agent."

"Yeah, I know," Kim sneered, "I've read the files, which I doubt you've ever done on us. I have to admit, you do a very good job, but when things get personal you immediately screw up."

"What do you mean," Ron and Will asked at the same time.

"Jinx, you both owe me a soda," Kim grinned, "I mean, once you think you have something to prove, you start failing. The first time you went up against WWEE you and your team easily defeated them, for the first time in a long time breaking the stalemate between GJ and WWEE. But when Gemini suggested your team helped you to victory and called you a 'mommy's boy', you then went up against them alone and got pawned. And every time after that you seemed to lock up when facing WWEE, with our without a team."

Will's eyes grew wide, "How do you know all that? Most of that isn't even in the mission logs."

Kim grinned, "I had Wade pull some data… from WWEE, that's where I found the 'mommy's boy' reference."

"You don't know what kind of parents I have," Will snapped, surprising both teens.

"I have an idea," Kim began, but she was immediately interrupted.

"No, you don't," Somehow, Will Du's look had changed to something Kim's hadn't seen in the agent before, "You think they're just some powerful people who pamper me and want to get me in the highest position. Do you have any idea what kind of pressure they're putting on me?"

"Well, no…" Kim said, still recovering a bit from the outburst.

"Of course not," Will continued, "I had to be the best of the best, there was no alternative to that… and I had to do it alone, they wouldn't allow for others to string along to drag me down."

"So that's why you don't get along with other so well," Ron remarked.

"But that doesn't excuse you from behaving the way you did after our last run-in with Gemini," Kim countered, "Not to mention your reaction to my report."

Will was about to make a comment, but then he slumped back down with a sigh, "Yes, I crossed a line there… I wasn't paying attention and I screwed up."

"It's not like that never happened before," Kim remarked, earning her a glare fro the Global Justice Agent, "Why the outburst this time?"

"I had my reasons," Will dodged the question, "suffice to say I wasn't pleased with losing face just at that time."

"Okay, but to run back to your parents…" Ron said.

Will looked surprised, "I haven't seen or spoken to my parents in over a month, and I certainly did not discuss anything about my mission to them in the few emails I sent them. I thought you of all would know that such a thing is the major cause of leaking in organizations like Global Justice.

Now it was Kim's time to look surprised, "But… just a few days ago we had a talk with Dr. Director, and she said you had complained to your parents about the report I sent."

Will scowled when he was remembered of the condemning – but, even he had to admit, just – report, "I only complained about it to Dr. Director… immediately after she debriefed me and reprimanded me for my actions; I was still not in the best mood at that time."

"I get it," Kim smirked, "sometimes it is hard to admit mistakes just after you made them, I know… wait, if you didn't tell them, how did your parents find out?"

Will frowned, an alarmed look slowly forming on his face, "Those reports are highly confidential, only to be read by Dr. Director, the person who wrote them and a confidential counselor who is there to balance the amount of power Dr. Director can hold."

"But you read it too, right?" Ron asked.

"No," Will explained, "I was only notified about the report and about the part that concerned me."

"Well, that was pretty much most of the report," Kim told, "I was pretty angry at that time as well."

Agent Du thought for a moment, "We better don't tell anyone about this, if we found a leak we can't warn it of our knowledge."

"Not even Dr. Director?" Kim asked.

"No," Seeing Kim's frown Will quickly added: "I trust her fully, but she has a lot of enemies trying to wedge her out of her position. And if there is a leak, he or she is probably very close to Dr. Director and might find out if we tell her."

"Alright," Kim conceded, "So… how do we go on from this?"

"We do this mission," Will smiled, "and we don't show anyone else what we figured out, so no sudden acts of niceness."

"Not a problem," Kim smirked, although now she did have some new-found respect for the Global Justice agent.

"Good," Will said, "and in the meantime, I will send out some feelers and see what my parents are up to."

* * *

Eventually, the mission turned out to be easy and, ironically, involved Duff Killigan again. The mad golfer had taken up the plan to steal an entire factory's worth of golf balls.

Team Possible teamed up with Will Du had little trouble taking down Killigan, especially since he couldn't find his exploding golf balls in the piles of normal balls.

"The mission was easy," Kim told Dr. Director when they debriefed, "And I think it was a good idea to let us work together again with Will Du. We may still not agree on a lot of things, but at least we can work as a team again."

Betty Director looked confused for a moment, "You were not supposed to go with Will, I had especially sent a different agent to help you. Will was supposed to take a junior team to take out Duff Killigan; his golf schemes are so far-fetched that he's become an easy target."

"What?" Kim asked alarmed, "So when we and Will… no wait, that did work out, that's no problem. What about the junior agents?"

"What was the other mission?" Ron asked.

"Falsetto Jones had stolen another priceless jewel," Dr. Director told, "He may not be out there with the big time villains, but he's got a lot of cunning and a serious security."

"Tell me about it," Kim muttered; the only time the teens had gone head to head with the thief, he had almost taken them out… while watching and enjoying the show.

Just as Dr. Director was going to make a call to see how her team was doing, the team called and told they were on their way back with the jewel.

"Did you have any trouble?" Dr. Director asked.

"Well…" the answer came reluctantly, "He did manage to capture the team."

"What? But how…"

"After he got us all, he let us go with the jewels," came the answer, "Saying that next time you'd better bring in team Possible or he wouldn't be so lenient."

"Wow, seems like Falsetto wants a challenge," Kim smirked, "I'll tell Wade to keep an eye on him."

* * *

During the remainder of the week, Kim tried several more times to get Ron to spill about what presents he had bought her, but like with every year before, he wouldn't budge.

At least of one gift she could be sure, and when the day finally came, Kim had to suppress a chuckle when Ron was the first to hand her the familiar looking envelope.

For Kim's eighteenth birthday quite some of her family had made the time free to be there. Fortunately Kim's birthday was on a Saturday so those who had to travel a long distance could stay over and leave the next day. Uncle Slim and Joss had come over for the whole weekend, also to celebrate Larry's birthday that was next week. Of course Larry and his parents attended, seeing as they lived in Middleton too. Also several second cousins and further relatives had come over; most of them staying the week so they could attend the next family birthday as well.

"Bueno Nacho Bucks?" Kim smirked when she opened the envelope and took out the small stack of vouchers that were worth a dollar each at any Bueno Nacho restaurant.

"Traditions are there to hold to," Ron smiled, "oh wait, can you check if I corrected the right amount for inflation?"

"Sure," Kim grinned; each year on her birthday, Ron had given her exactly enough Bueno Nacho Bucks to pay for two combo meals, he usually expected her to share. Kim shifted the vouchers through her hands as she counted them, "…ten, eleven, twelve…" her eyes grew wide when she got to the last paper.

"I thought you liked the little update to the tradition," Ron chuckled as Kim stared at the Club Banana Coupon.

"Ron," Kim pulled her boyfriend in a hug and gave him a kiss that may not have been entirely appropriate in front of all her family, "This is way too much, how did you afford this?"

Ron smiled, "Remember my short lived days of mentoring of Mr. Smarty's son?"

"Yeah?" Kim frowned; it hadn't been the best job Ron had ever performed, and with the addition of Dr. Drakken and Frugal Lucre it had nearly wrecked the entire Middleton Smarty Mart.

"Well, apparently Martin Smarty though I had at least done a good job in reconnecting him with his son," Ron explained, "So he offered me a bonus in the form of a Smarty Mart coupon."

"A Smart Mart coupon?" Kim asked confused, "But this is…"

"Same owner," Ron grinned, "Mr. Smarty didn't mind me switching it for another of his stores, and I figured you would like this one a lot more… safes you from digging out the sunglasses."

Blushing slightly at the last comment, Kim still couldn't help but smile, "Thank you Ron."

More presents were given; from her parents Kim received a book on comparative international law she had been wanting to get ever since she had started the Advanced Placement program, Joss had gotten her a set of horseshoe-shaped earring that "would fit any cowgirl" in Joss' own words. Aunt June gave her a blouse and a skirt that Kim had no doubt her mother had been tipping her sister-in-law about.

Several other presents were given before Ron stood again before his girlfriend, holding a small box-shaped present.

"Ron," Kim said in surprise, "But you already got me an expensive gift."

"That was just the traditional gift," Ron grinned, "This one is for my bon-diggity girlfriend."

Kim gasped as she took a silver necklace with a heart-shaped locket out, the locket had a small diamond on top, "Ron, this is too…"

"Open it," Ron encouraged, eager to see how Kim liked the pictures he had put in.

Again Kim gasped; the images of her and Ron were looking at each other when the pendant was opened, and they seemed about to kiss, "When did you get this picture."

Ron blushed slightly, "I wanted it to be a surprise, so I had been looking through some older photos, and then I found out there had been a lot of pictures remaining after the prom dance that never made it to the photo album. This one is from a set taken just after we entered after the Diablo sitch."

"Ron, it's perfect," Kim held up her hair and allowed Ron to put the necklace around her neck, but just when he had his arms behind her to close the chain, Kim leaned forward and rewarded Ron with another kiss that bordered on inappropriate.

From the corner of his eye Ron noticed Mr. Dr. Possible's slight frown, but he was too caught up in the moment to care about space probes and black holes.

* * *

At the end of the day, when most of the family and friends had left, Ron helped clean up after the party. He smiled when he saw Kim still wore the necklace he had gotten her.

Seeing Ron look at her, Kim smiled back, "Thanks again for the presents, I'll make sure you'll like what I'm getting at Club Banana," she added with a mischievous grin.

Ron's eyes widened and he quickly looked around, hoping Mr. Dr. Possible hadn't heard Kim's last comment. But Kim's father was outside, putting away some trash bags.

Noticing the look, Kim smirked, "Still got you scared with the space probes, huh?"

"A bit," Ron admitted.

"So, eighteen now as well," he then said, changing the subject, "Already feeling more adult?"

Kim laughed, "I wish it was that easy."

"Yeah, me too," Ron chuckled, "You know, I really thought I would be the big man when I turned eighteen."

"Well, you became a football jock pretty soon after," Kim grinned, "And you got a job…"

"Ohmygosh," Ron's eyes grew wide, "I did turn into a grown-up when I turned eighteen."

Kim chuckled at her boyfriends antics and moved closer to Ron to gave him a kiss on the tip of his nose, "Well, let's not grow up too fast, later we've got plenty of time for being grown-ups."

**

* * *

Knock-knock-knock-knock**

"The door's open," Wade grinned after hearing Kim's attempt on imitating the Kimmunicator's four tone signal while knocking on his room door.

"Hey Wade," Kim smiled as she entered Wade's room.

It was a good week after Kim's birthday and the Possible residence was still recovering from cousin Larry's birthday's surprising surprise party.

"Hey Kim, I got the battle suit fixed and cleaned again," Wade said, "All the glitches should be removed now."

After finally having fixed the suit following the fight against Warmonga, Wade had uncovered a couple more issues with the suit when Kim and Ron had been asked to rescue a cat from a tree, the cat being a full-grown puma.

Unfortunately, Dementor had never given up on his plans to steal the battle suit and even more unfortunately his new plan to obtain it coincided with Larry's birthday.

The eventual score was a battle-suited Larry one versus Dementor zero.

The only upside for Kim had been a large improvement in relation with her aunt June. On the downside her room had been damaged, she had been beaten by her nerdy cousin (even though Larry had been wearing the super suit and had caught Kim by surprise, her pride was still stung badly) and the list of men wearing her suit had gotten its third entry (assuming that Wade had never gotten the urge to try on the suit himself).

"That's great," Kim gave a halfhearted smile, "But maybe it's just best if we leave it at a secure spot and only use it in a real emergency… something like the earth plunging into the sun."

Wade gave Kim a confused look, "I assure you that all the glitches are removed, the suit won't glitch again, promise."

Seeing that Kim still had a very reluctant look, Wade suddenly understood, "I had it cleaned thoroughly, even more so than after Dementor wore the suit."

"I know, but this was…" Kim shivered a bit, "Larry. Just knowing he wore it gives me the creeps."

"I do have some brainwashing shampoo samples to help you forget," Wade grinned. "Just kidding, they can only control persons for a while," he quickly added after seeing Kim's frown.

Kim kept her glare for a short while, "Just promise never to use that stuff, okay? But I came here for something else."

"I know," Wade said and picked up the item Kim had wanted him to make, "This should get rid of Ron's problem once and for all… when are you planning on giving it to him? His birthday was a couple of months ago."

"Thanks Wade," Kim smiled, "I was planning on giving it on our halfaversary, that's in a week."

"Wow, time sure flies," Wade remarked, "Although you guys seem to be together for a lot longer."

"Yeah," Kim smiled happily, "People say that often to me… you know I'm having 'KP/RS forever' engraved in the necklace Ron gave me?"

"Afraid you're going to forget it?" Wade chuckled.

"Never," Kim told, "Not even that brainwashing shampoo can get Ron out of my head."

"It doesn't work that way!" Wade pointed out again when he saw Kim's smirk, "Okay, you got me."

"Thanks again for the belt," Kim grinned as she walked out, "I owe you one."

* * *

**A/N:** Another chapter down, I hope you enjoyed. The necklace Ron gave Kim made an appearance in another story I wrote, kudos for anyone who knows which story.


	11. Unwanted skill

Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks everybody for reviewing, I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Special thanks to _Kwebs _for beta reading.

**

* * *

Chapter 11: Unwanted skill**

"Aw, come on KP," Ron said, "Rockets are go!"

"Not anymore they're not," Kim grabbed the remote and switched off the TV, much to Ron and Kim's father's discontent.

To her surprise, the episode of Captain Constellation kept on playing in her mind for a few moments before she managed to make the images go away, "Dad, just how did you put these episodes in my head?"

Mr. Dr. Possible rubbed his neck as his wife also looked at him suspiciously, "Well… Jim and Tim helped me with the idea to make the screen-shots fire in frequency with your brainwave pattern."

Kim frowned, "Did you do that to all my memories?"

"No, that wasn't necessary seeing as we only needed to trigger your mind for those memories," Mr. Dr. Possible explained, "you only needed to get access to those memories."

Somehow, that confession did not lift Kim's spirit and Kim's mother noticed the slight moment of sadness in her daughter's eyes.

"Well, I'll better be going home," Ron said as he stood up, "See you tomorrow KP?"

"Yeah," as Kim let Ron out, her mother saw that she kissed Ron with a lot more intensity than usual for a goodnight kiss; as if Kim was trying to make up for something.

Slightly dazed and with a grin from ear to ear, Ron started his scooter and left for home.

As Kim walked up to her bedroom, Anne nudged her husband and signalled him to follow her.

* * *

Kim entered her room and dropped herself face-first on her bed with a muffled groan when she hit the cushion.

She sensed more than heard her parents walking into her bedroom as well, "Kimmie," her mother asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm the world's worst girlfriend," Kim muttered into the cushion.

"That's not true, and you know it," her mother told as she sat down on Kim's bed; Mr. Dr. Possible chose to keep his spot on the doorstep for the moment.

Kim lifted her head a bit, "I forgot him, and I refused to even believe there was a possibility of us dating… he even showed me the prom picture and I just thought I had taken him to the prom because no-one else would."

"But you remember everything now," Mrs. Dr. Possible said, "I don't think Ron minds the past few days now that you're together again."

"That's just the thing," Kim sat up and looked at her mother, "He forgave me without a thought after he'd been through all that, what did I do to deserve a guy like him? And why didn't I see it much sooner?"

Not knowing what to say to that, Kim's mother just put a hand around Kim's shoulder.

Kim looked at her father, "You know, when I just asked you how you put the memories back in my head, I was kinda hoping you had shoved everything in my mind just like you did with that Captain Constellation series. Because then I could have blamed you for not putting in anything about me and Ron being together… I'm sorry dad," she walked over to her father and put her arms around him, "I just couldn't… because it was all my fault," tears started to flow from her eyes, but an intense relief filled her when her father hugged her back.

"Kimmie, you shouldn't feel guilty for that," Mr. Dr. Possible said, "and maybe we should have put more effort in reworking your memories regarding Ron."

"But Ron was already intertwined with your whole life," Kim's mother explained, by this time all three Possibles had sat down on the bed, with Kim sitting in between her parents, "And when you two started dating, not so much changed."

"Not?" Kim asked, truly surprised, "But there was a whole world opening for me, it's like… like…"

"I know exactly what you mean," Mrs. Dr. Possible smiled, "But it was just you realizing what you had always had, for us outsiders the only thing that changed was that you began kissing."

"Okay, I get it," Kim chuckled, slightly embarrassed.

"The thing is," Kim's father went on, "even after you started dating, the pictures didn't change; Ronald was still in most of them and I doubt that someone who didn't know could tell the difference between those pictures and pictures from a year ago."

"And the necklace Ron gave me is still being engraved," Kim finished, a short search through her – still highly accessible, thanks to the reboost – memory showed that there was indeed very little evidence of the two of them dating; it had become so obvious to them that they didn't need all kinds of reminders… unless of course one's memory was completely wiped.

"I'm sorry dad, that I doubted you," Kim smiled, but then she frowned, "So why did you put the Captain Constellation series in my mind?"

Kim's father chuckled and rubbed his neck, "Well, you never saw much of Captain Constellation… so I, uh…"

"Yes?" Kim's frown stayed in place.

"I just wanted to have something to bond over," James Possible looked down, "I know we're drifting apart a bit, and now you have another man in your life who may very well become _the_ man in your life, and I…"

"Dad," Kim wrapped her arms around her father again, "Ron will never take the place that you hold, you'll always be my dad, and I will always be your Kimmiecub… just don't use that name in public. And you know what? We could watch some episodes of Captain Constellation, I'd like some father-daughter time."

"Really?" Mr. Dr. Possible asked, "I mean, we could also do something different."

"Nah," Kim smiled, "after the effort you did to cram this in my head you deserve it…" then she thought for a moment, "Do you think I can also use that trick to remember history lessons?"

Kim mother laughed, "I don't think you even need that, and it will probably take more time to put the lessons in a hyper-compressed file than to actually learn them."

"I guess you're right," Kim sighed, but then she grinned, "It was worth a shot though."

* * *

The next day Kim, Ron and Monique sat at their usual booth at Bueno Nacho.

"Oh, come on Ron," Monique said, "I told you I was sorry, I was just playing you."

Ron muttered something, but still refused to talk to his friend.

"Look, if I really thought you were in risk of losing Kim I would have done something," the raven haired girl told, "But you two are inseparable."

"From Bonnie and Shego I could take it," Ron said, "but I didn't expect you to undermine my efforts to give KP back that part of her memory."

"I'm the one who is at fault," Kim jumped into the conversation, "I'm the one who didn't believe you even after I've known you for so long."

"KP," Ron turned to his girlfriend, "You were suffering from amnesia, you were just working to get your memory back."

"No Ron," Kim told, "I had everything back and I still wouldn't belief we were dating, it took that stupid pants accident to bring back my memory."

"Didn't you give him that belt?" Monique asked.

"Yeah," Kim nodded, "long story… would you give us some privacy to work this out?"

"Sure," Monique smiled, "I'm heading to ERO class anyway."

"So that mission really inspired you?" Kim grinned, referring to the simulation mission turned real that had happened a few weeks earlier.

"Yeah, if I make it I'll become part of the Middleton Mall ERO crew," Monique explained, "So I can help if there is an accident."

"Good luck," Ron said, smiling as well, "sorry I just snapped at you."

"We're okay?" Monique asked, to which Ron nodded; "You know I can't hold a grudge for long."

After Monique left, Kim turned to Ron, "Care to take a walk?"

"Sure," Ron said, "let's go to the park."

* * *

"At what point did you starting thinking about dating me?" Kim asked on the way to the park.

Ron didn't have to think long for that, "The moment you asked me to."

"Ron!"

"No really," Ron said, "even when we were tied up during the Diablo sitch all I wanted was to be there for you… just as something more than just a friend."

"Okay, let me ask it differently, when did you want to become more than 'just a friend'," Kim then asked.

This time Ron needed to think deeper, "I don't really know. I mean I sort of grew into it… but ever since the moodulator incident I started to recognize those feelings for what they were."

"So there was still fireworks," Kim smiled.

"What about you?" Ron then asked.

Kim looked down and sighed, "Before you, dating has always been a kind of game to me; you go out with a guy you like… or who you're crushing on," she added embarrassed, "and you have a couple of fun dates you can talk about… and brag about."

At this moment the teens had reached the park and they sat down on a bench before Kim continued, "For a couple of dates we'd have fun but then the missions usually interrupted… and most guys are a little put off when their date can kick their butt five times over without breaking a sweat," she added with a grin.

"Did you ever consider quitting the missions?"

Kim shook her head, "No, never even thought about it."

"And me?" Ron inquired.

That took a moment to set in, but then Kim firmly shook her head, "Never, if they couldn't deal with you being my friend or you being my partner on missions, they weren't worth it, not even by a long shot… but they did cut into 'our' time, didn't they?"

Ron shrugged, "That also happened the other way around."

Kim chuckled, "Yeah, I think that was when I should have realized I had feelings for you. When Felix began cutting into my 'Ron' nights I should have recognized my jelling… over another guy no less."

"KP!" Ron cried out, "You make it sound like Felix and I were dating."

"Guess I did," Kim grinned, "but it was Yori who really had me going in full jealous mode."

Ron remembered Kim chasing him and Yori all over the globe when they were trying to rescue Sensei, but even after he and Kim started dating, she was still quite defensive the first time they met up with the ninja again.

"Tara and Zita never got you like that," he mentioned.

"No, I never considered them 'threats'," Kim said, "Zita never cut into 'our' time… and I think both were a bit too afraid of me to take it any further with you," she added with a slight blush.

Ron cocked his head, "Did you threaten them in some way?"

"No," Kim admitted, "but I think me just hanging around you was enough to drive them off."

"Oh well," Ron shrugged, "we are together now, so I guess it doesn't really matter anyway," then he looked questioningly at Kim, "So, why did you bring this up?"

Kim looked down for a moment before meeting her boyfriend's eyes, "_now for the hard part_."

"When I had lost my memory, it was… just like before we were dating," Kim began, "you were my best friend, but not dating material. I couldn't even get myself to consider the idea of us dating."

She sighed, "And you tried so hard to make me remember us, I think you would have tried anything."

"Heh," Ron chuckled, a bit embarrassed, "you got me there."

"I'm sorry Ron," Kim said, "for putting you through all this."

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault," Ron told, "You were even eating flowers for salad."

"But I should have trusted you," Kim insisted, "It's not like you would have made something like that up."

"That's all in hindsight," Ron smiled, "and you know that's 20/20, you just didn't know then. Yeah it was painful, but I'll never hold it against you and I don't want you to have a major guilt trip over it."

"Thanks Ron," Kim smiled, then she got up from the bench, "let's go, I've got to pick something up from the mall."

* * *

"What did you bring here?" Ron asked when the teens entered a jeweler's shop in the Middleton mall.

"You'll see," Kim smiled as she gave the receipt to the teller. The man walked into the back of the shop and shortly after returned holding a small package, "Sorry it took so long, but we had a long waiting list."

"No big," Kim smiled, "although it would have come in handy during the past few days."

"What is it?" Ron inquired again, this time a little more insistent.

Kim opened the package and showed the necklace Ron had gotten her for her birthday, "I wanted to have our names engraved," she handed Ron the necklace and pulled her hair back, "Would you do the honors?"

Ron looked at the engraved 'KP/RS forever' before he put the necklace on Kim, "That looks really nice… shame I didn't have this to prove we were a couple."

"I know," Kim chuckled, "Just our luck, huh?"

* * *

When the teens walked out of the mall, Kim's wrist Kimmunicator chimed, "What's the sitch Wade?"

"Kim, Ron, Dr. Director wants to meet…" Wade was interrupted when a hole opened beneath the teens and they fell into one of the GJ vacuum tubes.

"Meet us right now?" Kim smirked after the usual bizarre ride trough the vacuum system.

"Yes," Dr. Director told as she stepped towards Kim and Ron, "Sorry for the sudden call, but you were walking over one of the tunnel openings and I saw an opportunity."

"Yeah, it's not like we had anything else to do," Ron muttered, still recovering a bit from the surprise of the ground opening beneath him, even though it had happened many times before.

"We got time now," Kim said, "So, what's the sitch?"

"You are," the leader of Global Justice told, "Since you have both turned eighteen now, you can participate in the more adult parts of Global Justice."

"What's that?" Ron asked, "Having to rent our own hotel rooms?"

"Ron, I think it's got more to do with liability," Kim said.

"No, that has been taken care of," Dr. Director smiled, "with full consent of your parents and your family lawyers, but those contracts will only get fully under your responsibility when you turn twenty-one. Please follow me."

Kim and Ron shrugged and followed the woman into a section of the Global Justice headquarter they had not been in before.

It didn't take long before Kim began hearing vaguely familiar sounds; her suspicion was confirmed when Dr. Director opened a thicker door and led the teens into a shooting range.

At the moment, only one other agent was practicing there, he looked up and nodded, "Dr. Director."

The leader of Global Justice nodded back, "How is practice going agent Du?"

Will Du gave a self-satisfied smile, "Still beating my old records… hello Miss Possible, Mr. Stoppable."

"Hi Will," Kim greeted back before she turned to Dr. Director, "You want us to start using guns?"

"Not necessarily," the woman said, "however, I do want you to be able to do so when it is needed."

"You know I'm not a fan of guns," Kim told, "And we already know enough of them to sharply reduce the risk of either of us getting shot."

"Knowing how a gun works and using it well are two very different things," Will Du mixed into the conversation, "if you practice often with using guns, you will also learn how to handle yourself when facing an armed opponent. You can actually learn when and where the other is going to shoot, giving you a much better chance at survival."

"I already know that," Kim said without any pride in her voice, "I've always been able to do that."

Seeing Will Du and Dr. Director's questioning looks, Ron nodded, "It's the truth, KP hit bulls-eye the first time she ever held a gun, and I've hardly seen her miss a shot anyway with the grappling gun."

Dr. Director frowned, "And when was that?"

Kim thought back, "That had been years ago, Uncle Slim had brought a couple of rifles on his visit and he let me and Ron have a couple of tries as well…"

* * *

"Okay Kimmiecub, you know the rules?"

Seven year old Kim Possible smiled widely and nodded, "Yes dad, never aim at yourself or others, always treat the gun like it's loaded and... uhm, it's a weapon, not a toy."

"You worry too much squirt," Slim Possible told his younger brother, "If anyone's responsible it's your little girl, I can only hope my Joss will turn out like her."

Then the rancher tuned to his niece, "Okay, now y'all want to look down the length of the barrel and use that to aim," he pointed at a wooden plate with a bulls-eye drawn on it that was hung from a tree branch, "Now you try to hit that target."

The air rifle – James didn't want his daughter exposed to the more powerful guns Slim had brought – popped and the target shook around wildly.

"Good one," Slim smiled, "hit the wood in one."

He walked over to the target to stop it from moving when he saw what Kim had hit, "What in tarnation?"

He stared at the target for a moment before turning his gaze to his niece, "Congratulations, you hit the bulls-eye on your first try."

"Booyah," Ron cheered for his friend.

"Want to try that again?" Slim asked as he made sure the target was hanging still again.

Just when Kim got ready to shoot as slight breeze began moving the target again.

"Hold on, y'all want to wait for that breeze to pass, take you time…" Slim was interrupted when the air gun popped again, "Now what'd I tell ya? Now you missed."

"I didn't," Kim insisted, "I just hit it in the same spot again."

Mr. Dr. Possible chuckled, "Kimmie, I know you got a pretty good hit on your first try, but you shouldn't get cocky." He still walked over to the target, "Now, it did move a bit, so you might still have hit the edge…" he fell silent when he saw the target from close by.

"What's the matter squirt?" Slim asked his brother, but then he too saw what had made Mr. Dr. Possible fall silent.

The earlier hole in the target had grown a little bit in size and two bullet entries were visible.

"How'd ya do that?" Slim asked, "No-one's that lucky."

Kim shrugged, "I just know where the bullet goes, isn't that how it works?"

James and Slim looked at each other; that was certainly not how it worked. At least, not without excessive training.

Slim walked over to his niece as she expertly reloaded the rifle, "Why don't y'all try it from a little more distance."

The four walked to the far end of the garden, Mr. Dr. Possible was already having trouble seeing the target clearly at this distance.

"Now ah recon this is about thirty yards," Slim told, "that's three times as far as y'all tried before, do yah think yah can still hit the target?"

"Should I hit the same hole again?" Kim asked, earning her another set of disbelieving stares, "What? I can still see the bullet holes."

"Even so," her father said, "I think you'll see what the wind does to the bullet at this distance."

"I know that," Kim told as she placed the rifle against her shoulder again just like her uncle had shown her, "It's just like throwing a ball with when it's windy."

The rifle popped again and the target danced wildly on its ropes.

"Guess I didn't hit the hole this time," Kim muttered, but when her father and uncle went to look, they saw the third bullet had hit the target less than an inch from the previous hole.

"Booyah," Ron cheered again, "KP, you're a sharpshooter."

Kim smiled, but didn't really understand the commotion. It was only when her father, her uncle and Ron started their attempts to hit the target that she began to grasp how difficult it must have been for most others to shoot like she just did.

* * *

"...We practiced for most of the remaining day," Kim concluded, "but dad didn't feel too comfortable with it and we hardly did it again until… well, until a while into the missions when Wade had built me a grappling gun."

"Wow, that is amazing," Dr. director said, "and how did Ron do?"

Ron chuckled embarrassed, "I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn at first."

"Well, you could," Kim smirked, "you managed to hit the garage three times."

Will Du frowned, "Would you care to back up that claim?" he pointed at the gun that was lying on the table.

"Okay," Kim put on a set of protecting earpieces and waited for the others to do so as well before picking up the weapon.

She slid the magazine in which contained five bullets and looked at the target for a moment; it was a simple round target consisting of ten consecutively smaller rings with the smallest being the bulls-eye, a cross of numbers valued each ring starting from one on the outermost ring and ten for the center.

"Bulls-eye and each five," Kim called before the gun rapidly shot its five bullets.

When the silence returned, three persons looked at the view screen that showed an enlargement of the target; two with an astonished look and one with a knowing smile, "KP still got it."

Kim put the safety back on the gun and took out the magazine, "It's not something I can really lose."

"That's truly amazing," Dr Director gasped, even Will had to agree; even though he would have a good chance to perform the feat and get a five out of five hit, he would never be able to do that with the astounding speed Kim had just displayed.

"It's just part of what I am," Kim told, "I got this the same way I got the color of my hair; it took me no effort at all, I could have pretty much done this the first day I ever handled a gun."

"And that's not the best part," Ron grinned, "KP can even tell where a bullet is going to go by just looking at someone aiming."

"Ron, you're making it sound braggy," Kim smiled.

Ron shrugged, "If it's true, it isn't braggy."

"Could you show that?" Will asked, "If that's okay with you Dr. Director."

"Yes," Dr. Director said, "I was going to ask you to give Kim and Ron a bit of a tour around the shooting range anyway," she turned to the teens, "could you pass by my office once you're done here, I can then update your passes so you can practice here whenever you want to."

"Okay," Kim nodded, then she gestured to Will Du to get ready to shoot, "You shoot at the target and I'll tell you what you've hit."

She switched off the monitor that showed the close-up of the target and positioned herself a little to the side of Will in such a way that she couldn't see the target.

"Top eight… a little below the rightmost seven… just above the lower nine, good one."

With every shot and every correct call by Kim, Will was getting more amazed; this bordered on superpowers. After a few more shots he stopped and looked at the redhead, partly to make sure she really couldn't have been peeking and partly expecting to see some kind of glow surrounding her. Neither were happening.

Even Ron was amazed this time; he had never seen Kim correctly calling where shots were going this way before, usually her skill just allowed her to dodge whatever various villains fired at her.

"That is one amazing skill," Will admitted, "I'm sure it often comes in handy when facing villains."

"Knowing where they shoot sure does," Kim said, "being able to shoot from the hip… it's a bit scary sometimes."

Will frowned, "Is that also the reason you prefer not to carry a weapon?"

"Partly," Kim shrugged, "but it's also that I just don't like guns… or most weapons for that matter."

"Strange, considering that you're not shy of violence," Will observed.

Kim chuckled, "I went too hard on you during training? Fighting and martial arts is different, it's more… controlled. And you have to have put in more effort to learn it than for just shooting around with a gun."

"You may have a point," the GJ agent said, "but that's not the way how Global Justice looks on things… or most agencies for that matter."

"I know," Kim told, "that's one of the reasons Ron and me didn't want to get into the full agent program… speaking of Global Justice, did you find anything about my report and whatever your parents are planning?"

"Yes, that's why I wanted to speak to you two alone," Will walked over to the small briefcase that laid between his belongings, "I wrote down some stuff that I found, have Mr. Load take a look at this. I prefer not to discuss anything here until I'm certain no-one can overhear us."

"Wow, this must have taken quite some work," Ron remarked when he looked at the small stack of papers that held Will's research; everything was written down neatly.

"Yes, it was," Will told with a wry smile while turning his wrist a bit, "But I couldn't take any chances."

"I'll have Wade take a look at it," Kim promised.

"Good," Will nodded, "now, let me give you a short introduction to the shooting range and the weapons you are allowed to use for practice."

* * *

"This goes a lot higher than I thought," Wade said after Kim and Ron passed by to hand him the information Will Du had gathered, "If this is accurate Dr. Director might be in big trouble, not to mention GJ as a whole."

"Can we do something to help?' Kim asked.

"I'll first have to verify this and start some searches from here," Wade explained, "but even then it will be mainly a more or less political game."

"Well, if you need anything," Kim smiled, "call us, beep us, you know the drill."

"I will," Wade chuckled, but quickly turned serious again, "Try to keep this to yourselves, if anything leaks out it may destroy GJ as we know it."

"You can count on us," Kim told.

"So, any villain activity going on?" Ron asked, "You know, now we're here anyway."

Wade had to laugh while Kim rolled her eyes, "Not much going on at the moment, apparently Shego has gone to Go city to receive some kind of day at the spa."

"You keep track of that?" Kim frowned.

"Go to know your villain," Wade smirked, "anyway, I don't think we have to worry about Drakken for the moment, I doubt he can even open a jar of pickles without Shego there to help him."

* * *

Ron had a smile on his face as he got himself ready for his date with Kim; they were going to Chez Couteaux, this time to have a real date instead of the failed double-date they had with a turned good Shego and Mr. Barkin. Of all the weird, and sometimes short, dates Ron had had, this one pretty much topped the list in awkwardness.

"Mr. Barkin sure acted odd today," Ron said to himself; the Vice Principal had arrived at school that day covered in bandages while muttering about crazy women and attacking dogs during almost every class.

Ron put on his bowtie, satisfied that he was finally able to do that without Rufus' help, and looked in the mirror, "Everything turned out well, Shego is back to normal and won't be hogging Kim's attention with chick flicks and eyebrow waxing… who would do such a thing to themselves," he shuddered.

"Oh well," he smiled, and his mirror image smiled back at him, "Tonight I'm having a date with KP, everything is back to what it should be."

"Are you sure about that?" Ron's smile fell when he looked around to see who had spoken, but no-one was there.

"After everything that happened, do you really think things can ever turn back to normal?"

Ron looked up and then stared wide-eyed at his mirror image who was grinning back at him, "Guess who's back?"

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the longer wait, I hope you enjoyed the story. Leave a review if you liked it, more should be up shortly.


	12. The devil on your shoulder

Thanks everyone for reviewing. Sorry for the long delay, it took me a while to get the story going the way I wanted it. I hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Special thanks goes to _Kwebs_ for beta-reading.

**

* * *

Chapter 12: The devil on your shoulder.**

"Guess who's back?"

Ron stumbled backwards, away from the mirror, "W-what, how… I… you!"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," the mirror image chuckled.

Pointing a shivering finger at his reflection that was no reflection anymore, Ron could only say one thing, "Zorpox…"

The figure shrugged, "Not exactly, but you might as well call me that, it'll be a bit silly to call me 'Ron' as well, right?"

"What?" Ron stared in utter shock and confusion, "No! No, you're not me."

"Au contraire, my friend," Zorpox smiled, "I'm as much you as you are… maybe even more on some days."

"No! You're not real," Ron turned away from the mirror and began to run out of his room when he almost walked into himself.

"You really thought you could run away from yourself by not looking in the mirror anymore," Zorpox shook his head with a slight grin, "You know that doesn't help."

"Okay," Ron shook his head to clear it, "what are you?"

Zorpox looked back in mock disappointment, "You're not even going to see me as a person? Oh well… I'm you, your darker side to be more precise."

"But… how?"

"I'm not really sure what happened," Zorpox shrugged, "but everyone's got one, you could see me as the devil on your shoulder… except there might not be an angel on your other shoulder."

"That's not really a comforting thought," Ron muttered, "but how can I talk to you?"

"I think it has a lot to do with your exposure to the attitudenator and, more recently, the reverse polarizer," Zorpox told, "it must have shook something loose inside our head. I know I was in charge when we were reverse polarized."

"But then you were… and now…" Ron stammered.

"The crazy laughs?" Zorpox chuckled, "I can still do them if I like to. Not really necessary now, are they?"

"I don't get it," Ron said, confusion showing clear on his face.

"Of course you do," Zorpox told, "if I know it, you know it. You're just repressing some stuff that you know."

"Fine, then why don't you tell me," Ron snapped, a bit irritated.

"Sure, why not," Zorpox shrugged, "you could see the two of us, you, as sitting on a seesaw with the one on the bottom having control."

"Okay…" Ron frowned.

"Were the same, so the balance is equal," Zorpox continued, "if you want to go down, you have to lean back."

"That sounds reasonable," Ron agreed, "but I still don't get it."

"It's a metaphor," Zorpox told, "both of us, both sides of you, have a way of leaning back; I used the evil and crazy Zorpox figure when I got to change to get control."

"Wait," Ron interrupted, "you're suddenly talking about yourself as your own person."

"Indeed," Zorpox nodded with a slight smile, "the first time Drakken's evil created a secondary person, let's call him blue Zorpox. Blue Zorpox had a strange mix of you and Drakken working on him and, well… we know what happened."

"But blue Zorpox is gone," Ron said; he didn't need to ask, this he knew.

"Yes, when Drakken's evil was returned, blue Zorpox disappeared to just a nightmare Shego has every now and then."

Both versions of Ron chuckled a bit at the idea before Ron caught himself and stopped laughing, "Don't try to play me."

"I'm not," Zorpox grinned, "you and me, us, found it both funny."

"I guess," Ron muttered, "so what happened the second time?"

"You know the answer to that," Zorpox said.

Ron only had to think for a moment, "We switched sides of consciousness, you were suddenly the one in conscious control."

"Got it in one," Zorpox nodded, still with a slight grin, "but to maintain control I had to resort to the crazy Zorpox figure, and although it was fun, it's really hard to keep up."

"What would have happened if KP hadn't hit me again?" Ron asked confused.

"I'm pretty sure we'd be having this same conversation," Zorpox told, "only I would be the one who could pick up stuff."

Ron had to take a moment to wrap his mind around that odd statement to say who would have the physical body, but then he realized he could very well have used that phrase himself.

"But how can we talk like this?" he asked, "Do other people do this as well?" he then wondered.

"I don't know," Zorpox admitted, then he chuckled, "Of course I don't, just like you… but personally I think it's the combination of a rich fantasy, being reverse polarized and being attitudenated."

"So, what's my way of leaning back," Ron asked, referring to their earlier conversation, but he already knew the answer, "It's my fears…"

"Yep, you've built a buffer of fears and scares to keep the darkness out," Zorpox nodded, "but it doesn't really work, huh?"

Ron didn't need to answer; and lying against yourself was futile anyway.

"And it's all because of that one fear that overshadows the rest…" Zorpox then said.

"Stop it!" Ron snapped, "I know that already, it's hard not to think about."

"I know," Zorpox said sympathetically, "she's at the foundation of what we are, it just wouldn't work anymore without her."

Ron's eyes widened, "You wanted to turn KP as well."

"Now that would have been something," Zorpox pondered with a grin, "would she be good in bad?"

"That's just sick and wrong," Ron snapped, "you're not me, and I'm not you."

"I'm what you could become," Zorpox said, unfazed, "but if you really try, you could reach blue Zorpox as well."

"Just… stop it," Ron snapped, "What do you want anyway?"

Zorpox shrugged, "No matter what you say, I am you, so I want what you want."

Ron shook his head to clear it, "That's just… weird."

"I want you to do what you want to do, whatever you really want to. You just have to grab it, that's all."

Ron frowned, "There's a catch, stop playing with me."

"Just do what you want," Zorpox repeated, "let me give you an example, and don't blame me for it being in your own mind."

Ron's frown held, "Go on."

"Kim is still feeling very guilty about forgetting you when her memory was erased, you know it even though she hides it well," Zorpox winked, "I bet she'd be willing to do a lot to make it up to you."

Ron paled; even though the thought had briefly crossed his mind – some things just happened – to actually hear it made it somehow much more real, "No! I would never do such a thing to KP. Get out of my head!"

"I can't, and you know it," Zorpox smirked as he receded into the mirror, "Enjoy your dinner, I know I will."

* * *

"You seem a bit off," Kim mentioned as the two were having dinner, "Is something wrong?"

"_Should I tell her?"_ Ron pondered; he hadn't felt Zorpox in his head anymore. But on the other hand, he had also never felt the being before, "_Did I really have that conversation earlier this evening?"_

"Ron," Kim was starting to sound concerned, "there is something wrong. Please tell me what it is."

Ron could see in Kim's eyes the ideas that were starting as she was trying to figure out what could be wrong; and it wouldn't take long before she would come up with ideas why she was the cause of the problem.

"KP…" he started, unsure on how to proceed, "there is something… it has to do with the time that your memory was erased about a week ago."

Seeing the redhead's eyes widen Ron suddenly realized how he must have sounded, "No! No, it's not like that. It's… uhm… I know you've been having trouble with it."

"I…" Kim was also having trouble finding her words, "You know how I'm sorry for what happened, if there is anything that I can do to make it up, you have to tell me."

Suddenly, Ron knew where Zorpox was; not in his mirror, or down in his unconsciousness; he was on his shoulder, like the proverbial devil, just as Zorpox had said. Of course Ron knew Zorpox wasn't actually sitting on the spot Rufus normally occupied, but he could clearly hear Zorpox' words again, "_I bet she'd be willing to do a lot to make it up to you._"

"No," Ron shook his head, both to clear it and to indicate that what Kim seemed to offer was not what he wanted, "I just want to know one thing… do you feel sorry or do you feel guilty?"

Kim frowned in confusion, "is there a difference?"

"If you feel guilty, I understand you want to make it up again, but if you feel sorry… you know I forgave you, I don't even think you did something wrong."

"But I…" Kim stopped herself, "maybe you're right, but I can't stop feeling I get off way too easily, it's just like…" she snapped her fingers, "and blam, you won't think of it again."

"Isn't that the best part of it?" Ron asked with a slight smile.

"Yeah… well… I…" Kim didn't know how to argue against that, "But what am I supposed to do?"

Ron shrugged, "Accept, and then we can leave this all behind us… I mean you do want to move past this, right?"

Kim gave a small smile, "Yeah, thank you Ron… for being the best that ever happened to me."

Ron was relieved see that his girlfriend was finally allowing herself to get the burden off.

The rest of the dinner was spent mostly with small talk until Ron excused himself to take a bathroom break.

"Want me to order desert?" Kim asked.

Ron nodded, "Yeah, you pick out something, I'll be back in a few."

* * *

"Hah, I got you," Ron smirked into the mirror.

Zorpox shrugged as he looked back, "You wanted her to let it go, right?"

"Well… yeah, but…"

"So you did do what you wanted," Zorpox grinned, "seems to me like you never even got close to getting at me."

"Wait, no… that's unfair," Ron stammered, "you can't go and change the rules."

"There are no rules here," Zorpox told, "and as long as you keep up doing what you want, no matter the consequences, you'll understand eventually."

"No! You can't play me like that," Ron began to shout to the mirror when he suddenly noticed someone else had entered the restroom.

"Heh, uhm… gotta go," Ron quickly walked back into the restaurant while the other man gave him a slightly disturbed look.

* * *

When Ron got back at their table, he noticed only one desert; one of his favorite chocolate mousse deserts, and it was standing on Kim's side.

Slightly dejected, he looked at his girlfriend, "Please don't tell me they had only one left."

"Actually, they did," Kim smiled, "but I'm not that hungry," she added after witnessing Ron's 'Have to be the gentleman here' look.

"But why…" Ron began, until Kim held up a spoonful of mousse, "oh…"

After enjoying the chocolate mousse – Kim had taken a few bites too, but most of the spoonfuls she scooped up went straight to Ron – the teens stuck at their table for a while, each with a cup of chocolate crème – neither of them was really fond of coffee, and it certainly was no match for the chocolate crème the restaurant offered.

"KP, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Kim sat up a bit more to pay attention, "something on your mind?"

"Kind of," Ron thought for a moment, "do you think we have a little devil on our shoulder that suggests us to do bad things?"

Kim had to chuckle at the idea, but then considered Ron's question a little more, "Well, maybe not really a devil on your shoulder, but I get your point. Sometimes we get tempted to do things, and sometimes we actually do those things."

"Yeah," Ron nodded, "but what if you can talk back to that 'devil'?"

Kim frowned, "What happened Ron?"

Deciding that he had gone too far to back out again, Ron told the whole story about Zorpox and the conversations they had.

"Wow," Kim needed a moment to take the story in, "that's… unique?"

"I know," Ron sighed, "and what if he gets the upper hand."

"No," Kim shook her head, "we all have those feelings you told about, but most of us can't… have a conversation with it. But still, I don't think he can take you over, and he knows it as well."

"But he seemed so confident," Ron insisted, "He's just waiting for me to fall once."

"Even then he hasn't won," Kim told, "as long as you regret making mistakes, he won't have a grip on you."

Ron frowned, "You sound like you know something I don't know about."

Kim was silent for a moment, deciding how best to tell her boyfriend, "Remember the Diablo sitch?" she then began.

"How could I forget," Ron mentioned; the mix of good, bad and great things that had happened to him would be burned into his mind forever.

"At the end, when I kicked Shego into the tower… I went pretty much 'Zorpox'." Kim admitted.

"Really? I couldn't see you then because your back was turned," Ron said, "and I was pretty much busy roughing Drakken up."

"You tripped him and made him say your name," Kim pointed out, "I told Shego I hated her, and I meant it, and then I kicked her into the tower with everything I had, and whatever power the super suit had left… and it felt great."

"You never told me that," Ron said, his eyes a little wider.

"I know," Kim sighed, "During the rest of the evening, all that hate and satisfaction was gone, and when we arrived at the prom it already felt like a dream. And later I just thought of it as 'after-mission rush'."

"But it wasn't," Ron observed.

"No," Kim admitted, "not really, this was several notches up from what I feel when I finally get one on the tweebs, or when I out-smart talk Bonnie."

"Is that even a word?" Ron asked.

Kim chuckled, "You know what I mean. It's just… we got to be careful with that, both of us… you know what happened to Shego."

"Yeah, she got shocked bad," Ron nodded, "but I think she was okay within a week."

Kim looked at him confused for a moment, "No, I meant when she turned villain from hero. You remember Hego telling that she started to enjoy the evil?"

"Oh, that," Ron nodded again to indicate he was back on track, "Well, she's an issue apart."

"What about the Seniors?" Kim pointed out, "They were harmless before, they started liking it too."

Ron looked down, "Yeah…"

"Hey," Kim tried to cheer her boyfriend up again, "it wasn't your fault… entirely. I mean, yeah you gave them some suggestions by accident, it was them who chose to become evil."

"That's just the point," Ron said, "I was their 'Zorpox'."

"Okay, that's just weird," Kim smirked, "but even so, it doesn't mean that you will fall for it, or I for that matter, as long as we're careful."

"Besides," she continued with a sly smile, "we don't have to be saints, we just need to know well where we put the limits."

"So where do we put the limit?" Ron asked, all serious again, "We've started practicing with guns; do we stop at injury, killing?"

Kim gulped; this had crossed her mind before, but she had never found the right time or the right words to voice it, "I-I don't know… I don't want to kill anyone… but if it would mean saving other lives… and even then I'm not sure if I would be capable of that."

"Maybe we could ask Dr. Director about this," Ron suggested, "they must have similar issues at Global Justice."

"You know, that's a great idea," Kim smiled, "I'm sure she can help us with it."

* * *

However, schoolwork took up so much time that the teens didn't find a moment to really sit down and talk things out with Dr. Director. And when Global Justice finally contacted them again, the leader of the organization was away for a meeting.

So it was that Kim and Ron were waiting for Will Du to explain to them why they had been called. Seeing as it would take another half hour before agent Du would be available – which meant an actual exact thirty minutes – the teens had gone to the shooting range to disassemble and reassemble various different weapons to familiarize themselves with it; even if one only needed the weapons as a last measure it was handy to be able to use in a last measure situation.

Half an hour later, Will Du walked in, carrying two folders that he gave the teens.

Reading through hers, Kim noticed it was the mission assignment, "What's this, no meeting in a briefing room? I though you liked the formal stuff."

"I do, and I know you don't," Will said dryly, "I don't like to plan the whole briefing protocol and then have you two run out within five minutes anyway."

"I'm not sure whether to be satisfied or insulted," Kim smirked before returning to the mission folder, "Falsetto Jones again?"

"Yes, we finally figured out why he wanted the two of you to apprehend him," the Global Justice agent told.

"The best guarded valuable in the word," Ron read out loud, "the Pearl of the divine sea?"

"Correct," Will nodded, trying to hide his annoyance at being interrupted, "Mr. Jones is putting out a challenge to everyone willing to break in and steal the pearl.

"But it's not even his," Kim pointed out, "why would he put out a challenge if he could as well steal it himself… he still is one of the best burglars, right?"

"Yes, he is," Will told, "however, apparently even he was not able to steal the pearl.

"So, what does that have to do with us?" Ron asked.

Will sighed, "Nothing directly; the challenge is also put forward by the so called 'guardians of the pearl', every thief is invited to try and steal the gem… at their own risk."

"There is, however, an annual showing of the pearl to prove it is still not yet stolen," he continued, "and when someone does manage to get through, that day will be a reward ceremony for whoever obtained the gem."

"Let me guess," Kim smirked, "there are lots of criminals coming there that still have an open invitation to your facilities and you don't have a clue where it is, so you want an undercover team in to find out the location."

"That pretty much sums it up," Will admitted.

"But why by means of Falsetto Jones?" Ron asked, "Couldn't we just take up the challenge ourselves directly?"

"If we do take it up," Kim said with a warning look, "We still don't know about the risks."

"Those I will explain later," Agent Du promised, "If we knew where the pearl was held, we could take up the challenge. But even Big Daddy Brotherson won't let us in on that… and believe me, we tried," Will rubbed the back of his head as if a sudden painful memory returned.

"So Falsetto is our lead in," Kim said, "and we have to try to take that pearl to earn a spot in the showing ceremony?"

"No, you have to succeed," Will told, a bit uncomfortable, "they would never tell you where the ceremony is held unless you were part of it. Only a very select group of criminals is aware of the actual location, other contenders are moved to the location in closed off vehicles, without any way to be able to tell their location."

"So what are the risks?" Kim asked.

"As far as we understand the guards are not lethally armed," Will told, "mainly because there have been accidents in the past in which guards shot at each other. However, they have to report in at specially coded intervals so taking them out is not a great idea anyway."

"Weapons they do carry are stun guns and stun batons," he then continued, "the main security is set up to isolate infiltrators and capture them once they are sufficiently cornered."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Ron said, "but what do they do with captured thieves?"

"Apart from their picture being put on the so called 'wall of shame', a two-hundred grand ransom is to be paid before the thieves are set free again," Will explained, "apparently that's how they finance the upkeep."

"And are you willing to free up such an amount in order something goes wrong?" Kim inquired.

Will nodded, "We have an appropriate amount set up in a shadow account, although we do prefer you to succeed in the theft."

"So why don't you do it?" Kim smirked, "Being the top agent and all?"

For a moment, Will Du seemed ready to respond with a snarky comment, but then he sighed, "I can't do such a thing. I've tried in a test facility we had set up, and which you can use as well to prepare, and I didn't even get half-way."

Instead of gloating, Kim showed an expression of genuine respect, "It takes a bigger man to admit such a thing."

"So how can we know you're not a fake," Ron couldn't help but joke, causing Kim to stifle a giggle.

To their surprise, Will allowed himself a small smile, "You could say I have done some soul-searching lately."

"It wouldn't have anything to do with the 'research' you have been doing?" Kim frowned.

"We can speak freely here," Will told, "I have checked this room multiple times, apparently whoever is in on the plot doesn't know we are getting closer to them."

"Can you tell us some more?" Ron asked.

"I've been talking with Mr. Load on several occasions," the agent told, "I've asked him not to tell you for the time being," he added after a frown from Kim.

"Okay, fair game I guess," Kim muttered, a bit annoyed at being kept out of the loop, "What did the two of you find?"

"A small group of agents reporting to outside forces," Will explained, "most of them think they're doing the right thing. I can't do anything against them now; Global Justice is getting in a very fragile position."

"Are your parents part of those 'outside forces'?" Kim asked, to which Will nodded.

"Yeah, they're prime investors, and they're trying to grab quite a lot of power. I've dropped some clues and now they think they might be able to use me as a puppet once they take control."

"Some parents," Ron remarked.

"Power corrupts," Will shrugged, "and they've already got a lot of it."

"You don't seem too upset," Kim noticed.

"It's what they did even before I was born," Will explained, "and even though I like them as persons, Global Justice is my life."

Kim thought for a moment if she could ever see her parents like that, she was relieved to find out she couldn't.

"However," Will muttered darkly, "at the moment, if they really want to take over, I'd be their puppet no matter what."

"But there's got be something we can do," Kim insisted, "maybe we should let Dr. Director in on it."

"It will only make matters worse," Will told, "Dr. Director is in an even worse position as I am, and she is too stubborn to give her position up anyway."

"I know some other stubborn persons," Kim said with a slight grin, but her expression fell when Ron suddenly looked meaningfully at her.

Smiling to himself when he noticed he had gotten his point across, Ron turned to Will, "So there's nothing we can do?"

"No, we have to play their game until we find a way out of it," Will said with a grim expression, "As much as I hate it, we just don't have the capacity to do anything here."

"You just want us to sit here and take it?" Kim asked, none too happy.

"Yes," Will Du said with a serious look, "If we try something now and it fails, we'd be giving Global Justice away, we just don't have the lever to pull anything at the moment."

"Fine," Kim sighed, "I guess you're right, "but I will not stand by idly when they really begin taking over GJ."

"You're not the only one," Will muttered, his annoyance with the situation clear.

* * *

After Kim and Ron agreed to consider helping with Falsetto Jones' challenge, Will Du walked over to one of the lockers and took out several handguns.

"Always the efficient one, huh?" Kim smirked when the agents proceeded to go to one of the shooting alleys and activated the program that would place a practice target.

"Yes," Will agreed, his focus already on the shooting practice.

Suddenly, a thought hit Ron, "Have you ever had to… use the skills you obtained here?"

"Of course," Will said as he turned around to face Ron, "Most of the time we act like a police department… except on an international scale, that is." He turned back to the range and aimed at the target.

"Did you ever have to kill?" Kim then asked.

"Yes," this time Will didn't turn around; he simply acknowledged it with one word, "One several occasions, both in self-defense and on order."

Now he did turn around to face both teens, "When did you start thinking about this?"

"It had crossed our minds every now and then," Kim admitted, "but we only really talked about it about a week ago." Ron nodded in agreement.

"I see," Will nodded slowly, "I'm not sure if I'm the best person you should ask this to. We do have several psychologists here, but they are most specialized in the aftermath of killing another human being… have the two of you talked to your parents about this?"

"No," Ron said for the both of them; they hadn't been sure on how to get such a thing in the open, even with their own parents, "It's just… you guys seem more… experienced with this."

"Our agents are screened for being able to do those things," Will told, "it's not something one can learn."

Seeing the teens' expressions, Will sighed, "You two entered Global Justice in a very different way most agents do, you were already fighting villains and it would be a bad thing for you and us both not to make contact with you, sometimes we have to skip the screening."

"Ah... okay…" Kim was searching for words, but found none.

"First have a talk with your parents," Will told, "and then we can set up something with the counselors we have here at Global Justice if you still want that."

"Thank you," Ron nodded before the teens said their goodbyes and headed off.

Will sighed as he put his attention back to the shooting range, "Yet another problem looming…" he muttered, "at least this I can discuss with Dr. Director."

He sighed, "I wish they'd taken some more time to find out."

"Don't we all?"

Will Du spun around, gun aimed, at the person who had sneaked up to him; not too big a feat since Will was wearing hearing protection, "Who are you, and how did you get in here?"

Put that gun away before you hurt someone," The elderly man - he had to be at least far into his sixties although he still looked extremely fit for his age – said, "We need to have a serious talk."

* * *

Betty Director stumbled into her office; drained by the long day in which she and several other GJ representatives met with representatives of other national and international agencies.

Discussions had been heavy and often almost hostile, as commonly happened on these meetings. And although the internal struggles of Global Justice had not been a topic, she had picked up rumors concerning the growing instability of the agency she lead.

And then there had been the message from 'Z', which had been pretty much a downpour on all agencies, scolding them for the ever-increasing amounts of bureaucracy and the corruption that came with it.

The message had hit hard, even though Betty, like most other leaders of the respective agencies, was pretty sure it had been a recording. A lot of directors could already see the cuts in budget coming their way, especially if the president listened to Z's advice, which he and his predecessors usually tended to do.

Global Justice was not free of budget cuts either, but that wasn't Dr. Director's main concern; she had much more trouble with the slope the agency seemed to be slipping on, and the internal affairs that increased the downfall.

Just at that moment Will Du knocked on the door.

"_Speak of the devil,_" Betty thought; although Will seemed to have improved over the past time, she was still not really pleased with the way he had given his parents an in on the agency, one they would likely use to lever her out of position. "Come in," Dr. Director said though; there was no use in punishing the agent again for something that was now out of his control anyway.

"Did something happen while I way away?" she asked.

"Internally not," Will told, "however, Team Possible did pass by."

"How did they react to Falsetto Jones' challenge?"

"They told me they would think about it, but to me it seemed they reacted positively."

"Good, is there anything else?"

"They have also been asking questions about where to draw the line in the field concerning incapacitating and killing opponents."

Betty slumped down in her seat, "I was hoping it would take them longer to get to this point, they're still high-schoolers for crying out loud."

"I know," Will told, "and they've also been wondering about additional reasons we had when we tried to recruit them as agents"

Dr. Director's eyes grew wide, "Did they find out…"

"No, they think we only contacted them because of their successes against various villains."

"Which we did," the leader of Global Justice emphasized, "And the screenings we did were basic at best, the data isn't completely conclusive, and I don't think it's a good idea to tell them the outcome at this moment."

"I agree," Will Du said, "now it would only complicate their lives."

Betty frowned, "You seems more lenient towards Kim and Ron than usual?"

"Sometimes one needs to step aside and see the bigger picture for a while before they get the point," Will smiled vaguely before giving a courtesy nod and leaving Dr. Directors office, leaving his boss with a confused frown on her face.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to write the next chapter a bit sooner.


	13. Challenging

Thank you all for reviewing. I know the update rate still isn't that great, but I'm working on it.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks to _Kwebs_ for beta-reading the story. And also special thanks to _Slipgate_ for reviewing this chapter (and teaching me some extra English phrases).

**

* * *

Chapter 13: Challenging**

"This is tough." Kim panted heavily after their third run through the simulation. Team Possible had agreed with the request to accept the challenge – largely due to Kim's growing interest in testing herself against it – and they were now training to be able to steal the pearl; they would get only one shot after all.

"How are you holding up?" she then asked her boyfriend, but Ron lay on the floor, seemingly passed out.

"Too… many… tasers…" he gasped, still severely out of breath; in order to keep the simulation as real as possible, the GJ agents that acted as guards had been equipped with tasers set to a low voltage and current, just enough to give a nasty sting.

Helping her boyfriend up, Kim looked at Will Du, who had been assigned to oversee their efforts. "How did we do this time?"

"Pretty good… much better than me," the agent admitted, pointing at the monitor that showed the video of their latest attempt. "You managed to make it through the infrared surveillance system without the alarm going off, so I think that with a bit more training you may actually pull it off."

"It's the monitoring I'm worried about," Kim said, "who says they don't have cameras in the main vault as well? If the guard who is monitoring sees us, he can sound the alarm as well."

"Can't Wade do something about that?" Ron, who seemed to be regaining his composure, offered.

"No, it's all off the grid," Will explained, "and they can go off the electrical grid as well. They've got several generators and a large enough propane tank to power a small city for quite a while."

"How do you know all this when you don't even know where their base is?" Kim frowned.

Will shrugged. "We talked to persons who also attempted the theft. As for the location, we have contacted Mr. Jones and told him you were willing to accept the challenge. In exchange, he is feeding us all the data of the facility."

Ron smirked. "So much for closely kept secrets."

"Doesn't it seem odd that he gave all the information so easily?" Kim mentioned with a frown.

Will shrugged again, this time a bit uncomfortable. "Actually, he is holding some valuables important to Global Justice in his possession; he threatened to destroy them if we revealed the location to others or if we backed out."

"Thanks for keeping us in the loop again," Kim muttered, but then she decided to leave it at that; it wasn't as if Global Justice hadn't kept secrets from them before. "So, Ron… up for another try?"

"KP, please," Ron groaned, "that thing is a killing machine."

"On that subject, did you do anything with the conversation we recently had?" Will suddenly asked.

Kim paled, and Ron didn't look much better either, but that could be due to him still being fatigued.

"No… I… I wanted to, but I just choked up when I wanted to say anything," Kim admitted, "I'm still not sure if I want mom and dad to worry about things like that."

"It's bad enough that they worry about the dangers that happen to us in the missions anyway," Ron added.

"And how do you feel about that?" Will asked curiously, "Wouldn't it be worse for your parents if they had to lose you due to one of your missions?"

"That we've talked about," Kim said, referring to several talks she and Ron had had with their parents concerning that topic, both separately and together. "They don't like the idea, but they understand we want to help people and that we're very capable of doing that."

She continued, "But the idea of us changing our morals… even I don't like that one bit."

"And therein lies the problem," Will pointed out, "you can't decide this on your own, and if you could, the decision would be a poor one. Talk with your parents… at least, I assume they are the most trustworthy people you know to you."

Ron smiled. "That they are. And if not my parents, I trust KP's mom and dad with everything."

Kim nodded her agreement. "We'll talk to our parents, no use pushing it off again… if we do it together I'm sure we'll find the courage."

"Good." Will smiled approvingly. "Now, about the challenge…"

"I have an idea," Ron suddenly said, "it may sound a bit weird, but don't shoot it down just yet. What if we…"

Kim and Will listened intently to Ron's proposition, and if the smiles on their faces were any indication, Ron's idea had struck gold.

* * *

"Kimmie, we're going to the mall for some extra Christmas decorations," Kim's mother said the next day at the breakfast table. "Are you coming too?"

Kim smiled. "Wouldn't miss that tradition for the world." The Possibles went shopping for new Christmas decorations every year around the end of November to add to their annual extravaganza that quite literally lit the neighborhood. "But can we wait for Ron and his parents first?"

Mrs. Dr. Possible looked at her daughter in confusion. "They don't really celebrate Christmas, right? I mean, they pass by every year, just as we do at Chanukah, but…"

"Different reason mom," Kim interjected, "it's something we have been thinking about for some time, but found difficult to tell you…"

Seeing her mother's face light up in a beaming smile, Kim quickly withdrew. "No, not that… not yet anyway," she added with a soft smile, but it faded quickly. "It's about our missions… it's… I… can we wait until Ron gets here?"

"Sure Kim," her mother said, reining in her curiosity. "Just know that you never have to hold anything back from us, okay?"

At that moment, Kim's father stepped into the kitchen. "Jim and Tim are busy calculating how much extra power we can drain. Should be done in half an hour. Are you coming shopping too Kimmie-cub?"

Kim smiled. "Of course, I want to have a say in it too."

Seeing the looks on the faces of his wife and daughter, James frowned. "Is there something wrong?"

"Not wrong," Kim said, "but Ron and I would like to discuss something with you and Ron's parents… it's about our missions," she added after a raised eyebrow from her dad.

At that moment, Ron entered the house together with his parents, who seemed equally curious and worried as Kim's parents.

"Hola, Possible clan," Ron said with a smile, although it was obvious that he too was a bit stressed.

"Hello Ronald," Mrs. Dr. Possible greeted with a smile that betrayed her curiosity. "Jeanette, Gene, how nice of you to come by."

"Ron told us he and Kim had to discuss something," Gene said as they joined the Possibles at the table and everyone looked expectantly at the teens.

Kim and Ron looked at each other, both mentally trying to get the other to talk first. Finally Kim started. "You know that some of our missions can get a bit… dangerous, right?"

"Yes…" Mrs. Dr. Possible nodded; as a doctor she was most painfully aware of the things Kim and Ron had been through. "But that's something we have discussed on several occasions, especially after the two of you turned eighteen."

At the suggestion of Dr. Director, the Possible and Stoppable families had rekindled an older discussion regarding their children's safety during missions. The main reason was the warning that the head of Global Justice had given that for some persons Kim and Ron could be seen as 'fair game' now, meaning that some of the 'rules of engagement' with villains could change. So far, Kim and Ron had noticed little about this change, although it was not widespread news that both of them were legal adults now; somehow, pictures of a much younger Kim tended to linger on the Internet and even in some recent magazines.

Kim continued. "And you also know we've recently started practicing with guns." This earned her another nod from the four parents, although Mr. Dr. Possible's frown increased a bit; he was one of the few people who had an inkling of his daughter's remarkable marksmanship.

It was Ron's father who spoke up. "We know that, and we agreed with it. Even if guns are a last option it's not something to be disregarded."

"But it's not actually the guns we're concerned about, although they did trigger these thoughts," Ron said, "you know our – and especially KP's – fighting abilities are more than sufficient to take someone down… really down."

The Possible and Stoppable parents began to see where Kim and Ron were leading them, and their next words came as a complete surprise to the teens.

"And you think we haven't thought of that?" Kim's mother asked. "We have been fearing the moment you returned home after having to kill another human being almost since the beginning of your missions… almost as much as the thought of one of you not returning from a mission."

Kim stared wide-eyed at her parents. "But why didn't you say anything?"

"This was something you had to come up with yourself," Mrs. Dr. Possible explained. "It wouldn't have done you or us any good if we told you about it."

Kim looked down at her glass of juice on the table – she hadn't even noticed her father grabbing something to drink for everyone – and asked in a meek voice, "but what do you think we should do?"

"We can't make that decision for you," Ron's mother said.

"The question is, do you want to continue the missions even though there is an increasing risk of you getting badly hurt or you really hurting others?" Anne looked at Kim and Ron. "Because so far, you have been pretty lucky in that regard."

"Well… I… we…" Kim stopped when she didn't really know what to say.

Fortunately, Ron picked up for her. "But what's the alternative? If we do nothing, we might stay out of it, but then it will be others who get hurt anyway."

Kim gratefully squeezed Ron's hand. "Yeah, not choosing to help is also a choice… and you know I can't refuse a call for help."

"So, you do want to continue the missions?" Kim's mother asked. "Even at the risk of the time coming that you have to choose whether someone lives or dies?"

Kim took a deep breath and looked at Ron; both nodded at the same time. "Yeah, we do want to keep doing the missions." they voiced together.

"I guess that settles it then." Mrs. Dr. Possible replied. If she had any issues with her daughter and Ron's decision, she didn't show it, and neither did any of the other parents.

"Although I do hope that time will never come," Ron's mother said with a somewhat sad smile.

Kim fully agreed with that. "As do we." She looked appreciatively at her parents. "Thanks for hearing us out."

Mr. Dr. Possible smiled. "That's what parents are for." Then he looked at the Stoppables. "Would you also like to join us with our shopping trip?"

"We'd love to," Gene said, "but we already have a couples pottery class planned for today. Maybe a rain check?"

Kim's mother chuckled. "With this shopping trip, that would mean not until next year." Just then, Jim and Tim walked in.

"We got the power-list ready," Jim said, holding up the list.

"And we have a lot of watts left over to abuse," Tim added with a grin. "Are you ready to go?"

"We have to leave for the pottery class pretty soon anyway," Jean said before James or Anne could object. "This way we can quickly check up on the babysitter."

"I hope she'll do better than the last one," Gene mentioned, "that girl didn't last half a day."

Mr. Dr. Possible chuckled. "Been there, done that." It earned him a soft giggle from his wife and a slight frown from Kim; Jim and Tim had already left the room to put some crates in the car to carry their new equipment but Kim was sure they would feel at least a little insulted as well.

* * *

"Good morning, how can I help… Hey Kim." Monique enthusiastically greeted her friend. "Gone early Christmas shopping?"

"You bet." Kim wasted little time with pleasantries as she looked in anticipation at her BFF. "So, what's the winter collection like?"

Monique grinned. "If you would take some more time working here, you'd already know."

Kim glared at the dark-haired girl. "I've been busy, okay. Come on, tell me what it is."

Monique was having a great time teasing her friend with the fashion anticipation, but she figured that they would only have a short amount of time before more customers showed up and she would have to divide her attention.

"Okay, the first part of the collection is already in, so I can let you have a peek. But don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Cross my heart," Kim promised before Monique walked to the back and retrieved a small stack of clothes and several pictures.

Kim gasped when she saw the dress. "That's… wow, I so would like to wear that during Christmas."

Monique grinned at Kim's enthusiasm. "Too bad it's so expensive."

Kim sighed. "I don't even have enough money to pay the discount I would get for it… there is employee's discount on it, right?"

Monique chuckled. "There is, but even if we pooled we wouldn't have enough."

"And sharing a dress, especially around Christmas wouldn't be that great of an idea anyway," Kim said. "Too bad, I wanted to surprise Ron."

Monique shrugged. "You'll just have to surprise him with something else… at least you got a boyfriend."

"I'm sorry Mon," Kim said, trying to comfort her friend. "I'm sure you will find the one someday."

"It better be before Christmas," Monique muttered, causing Kim to stifle a giggle.

"Sorry I have to go again," Kim then said, "we're buying Christmas supplies for the front yard."

Monique grinned. "Trying to outdo last year and be visible from beyond Lowerton's city limits?"

Kim laughed. "One can always try."

Monique watched as her friend walked out of the store. "Still, I wouldn't mind having a boyfriend before Christmas… or at least before Valentine's."

* * *

"Finally," Jim and Tim said impatiently when Kim returned to her parents and brothers. "How can you spend so much time just looking at clothes?"

Kim decided not to stir the subject and comment on the time the twins had spent in the comic store while she was at Club Banana. "Where is Ron?"

Mrs. Dr. Possible nodded her head towards the comic store. "Still inside. He said something about a new release of 'Zombies are Among Us.'"

Kim sighed. "I should have guessed."

The redhead walked into the small comic book store the mall sported and went over to her boyfriend, who was deeply involved into his comic book.

"Ron, are coming with us?"

"Hmmm?" Ron didn't even look up. "In a minute… did you know that 'Zombies are Among Us' had a sequel? Larry should have told me."

Kim made a face; she had explicitly pressed her cousin not to tell Ron so he wouldn't be absorbed into the comic for days to come.

"_Time to bring in the big guns._" Kim mused; she leaned over to whisper in Ron's ear. "Ronnie, we have to pick out the right mistletoe… and we need to make sure it's working correctly."

Without even blinking, Ron stood up and flapped the comic book closed. "All finished. Let's go."

Kim couldn't resist a small grin as she and Ron stepped out of the store. "_And yet another score for the girl's team."_

* * *

Monique was starting to feel bored; there weren't many customers, and the temp that had been hired could easily manage by herself, thus rendering Monique rather useless as the assistant – and for the moment, full – manager of the store.

"Hey, I could help you fold those, you know."

The younger girl shrugged. "Nah, I'm good. Besides, you're the manager on duty, you shouldn't be folding shirts."

Somehow, that willingness to work didn't fall very well with Monique at the moment, but there wasn't much she could do about it.

The dark-skinned girl sighed as she looked outside the store at the people passing by, hoping some of them would enter and give her something to do.

"I wonder if Kim is still shopping," she mumbled to herself, although it wouldn't help her much seeing as Kim seemed to be pretty much broke at the moment.

Then she noticed a middle-aged woman approaching the store; she could see the woman had an eye for fashion by the dress she wore. Maybe this day would get a bit more interesting.

It did, but not in the way that she had expected. The woman suddenly gasped, stumbled over, and fell to the ground.

Reacting immediately, Monique ran over and gently but firmly pulled away another shopper who was checking the woman. "Please stay back, I'm an ERO."

Then she went through the First Aid protocol. "Hello! Can you hear me?"

Getting no response, she started looking for life signs… but found none.

Even though she felt panic coming up on the edge of her mind when she couldn't feel a heartbeat, the ERO training she had received kicked in and Monique began heart massage and artificial breathing.

During the second round of performing CPR, she heard a familiar voice next to her. "The moment you want to call for a doctor, I'm right here."

Even though she recognized the voice, Monique glanced briefly to the side and noticed Mrs. Dr. Possible… as the shopper she had just pulled away.

Seeing the girl's shock, Kim's mother smiled encouragingly. "You're doing a great job. Keep it going."

Suddenly, Monique realized that in the rush she had forgotten the most important thing. "We have to call…"

"Already done," Mrs. Dr. Possible said, "an ambulance will arrive as soon as they can."

"Move along, give her some room," another, even more familiar voice, ordered.

Suddenly feeling a bit under-qualified with a neurosurgeon and Team Possible in the direct vicinity, Monique began to lose her cool. "Maybe one of you should take over…"

"No." Kim was clearly in mission mode as she and Ron were busy shooing curious customers away. "You have to maintain the rhythm to give her the best chance. Switching will take too much time… Wade, what's the status of that ambulance?"

"Arriving in two minutes," Wade said from the Kimmunicator.

"Dad, you and Jim and Tim make sure the paramedics can get here quickly," Kim ordered. "Mom, have you noticed anything that can help the paramedics when they get here?"

"She has a medical bracelet," Kim's mother noted and pointed at the woman's arm. "And by the looks of it she has a pacemaker."

"_Good thing I didn't try to get the mobile defibrillator then,"_ Monique thought, but then she focused on the task at hand again. "_…20, 21, 22…_"

It didn't take long before the paramedics arrived, led to the scene by Jim and Tim. After being warned about the pacemaker they took over from Monique, who gratefully gave up her task. Her arms were going to be really sore tomorrow.

* * *

"It feels like I have been doing a thousand push-ups," Monique complained as she sat next to Kim in the Sloth on the way to the hospital. "And believe me, I've never managed to get further than ten in my life."

Kim chuckled. "You did a great job yesterday, and the ache will be gone within a few days."

Monique looked at her friend. "You ever done this anytime?"

Kim shrugged. "Four, maybe five times. Never due to a failed pacemaker though."

A brief investigation of the woman's pacemaker had shown that it was from a faulty batch that had somehow slipped through the scans. Even though almost all pacemakers of that batch had been called back immediately by the company, a few – including this one – had been overlooked, nearly killing the woman from heart failure if Monique hadn't stepped in. She had been told her name was Sarah Holding.

Because the dark-haired girl had acted so soon, no brain damage had occurred at all and Sarah was already out of the surgery where the doctors had placed a new (and thoroughly checked) pacemaker. She would be released from the hospital after a few days of observation, but she had asked if she could see Monique the next day anyway.

Monique shook her head. "Is there anything you haven't done already?"

Kim smiled slyly before looking at her friend. "There are some things… Ron and I decided to wait on that though."

The dark-skinned girl stared wide-eyed at Kim. "I didn't mean _that!_"

Kim chuckled and turned her eyes back on the road. "Seriously though, it kinda comes with the package. Once you start doing the rescue business, you're bound to have to use your first aid skills at some point. Although I did have to perform CPR on a villain once…"

* * *

"How could this have happened again?" the leader of the technical team demanded as he stomped through the control room. "You are supposed to be the best of the best, and your payroll certainly agrees with that, so why can that hacker still break in at will?"

"I'm sorry sir," the IT technician apologized, "that guy 'Shadow' is just plain better than us."

"On the bright side, he's only been a nuisance," another technician chimed in. "The generators could easily cope when he cut off the power and the internal system can't be harmed."

"It's still costing us a fortune in propane," the team leader growled, "And I _hate_ that stupid 'I've cast a shadow' that pops up every time on the screens."

"Take it easy," a new voice cut in with a gentle but confident tone as its owner stepped into the room. "This shadow guy is good, but he thinks he can cripple us by cutting off the power and messing with our outgoing lines. It's just an amateur trying to gain some fame… although it might mean that another thief will try to break in soon."

The leader of the technical team smirked. "Let them come, we'll make them pay for their tricks."

One of the technicians coughed to get attention. "Excuse me sir, but we do need to refill the propane tank soon."

The dark-haired man who had just entered, and was clearly higher in rank than the rest of the persons in the room, frowned. "That's way too soon, how did that hacker increase our power output so much?"

The technician looked down, a bit embarrassed. "He made all our accessible computers run on full power, just like most of the other systems than can be accessed from an outside source, for two days before someone figured it out. Somehow he managed to overridethe warning program."

The dark-haired man grinned. "Maybe he's better than we expected, I could use a real challenge for a change."

* * *

"… And when he finally came to, he mistook the heart rate monitor for his doomsday device and almost gave the nurse on duty a heart attack."

Monique was almost doubled over in laughter as the girls walked into the hospital. "And you face guys like that on a regular basis?"

Kim shrugged, suppressing a grin. "Well, this was one on the deep end of the crazy scale, but yeah."

Monique shook her head and wiped a few tears from her eyes before addressing the receptionist. "Excuse me, we're here to see Ms. Sarah Holding."

The young man quickly looked the name up in his computer. "Let me see… she's still under observation, so you can visit her until five. She's in B3."

After thanking the receptionist, Kim and Monique headed to the appointed section. They quickly saw Sarah, who was sitting in a chair near the window, reading a magazine.

Looking up, the woman smiled. "You must be Monique, the girl who saved my life yesterday."

"That's me," Monique said. She was feeling a bit shy, as she had never had to have a conversation like this. "How are you doing?"

The middle-aged woman smiled. "As good as ever, thanks to you. If that pacemaker had shut off ten minutes later, when I would be driving home…"

Monique shuddered at the thought, but Kim was quick to intervene. "Fortunately that didn't happen. And the doctors said they were pretty sure the new pacemaker is working properly."

Sarah chuckled. "I think they said something along those lines the first time as well." She extended her hand. "I think I haven't met you yet, although you do seem familiar."

"Kim Possible." Kim shook the woman's hand.

"Sarah Holding, but you already knew that I think." Sarah took a closer look at Kim. "Now I know! I thought I'd seen you before."

Kim smiled a bit apprehensively; she didn't want to steal Monique's thunder. But Sarah surprised her with her next words.

"You've been a model for the Club Banana Magazine's autumn edition…" the woman stopped mid-sentence and looked at Monique again. "Don't tell me you are also the 'Monique' that designed that outfit?"

"You've seen that?" Monique squealed joyfully. "What did you think of the designs?"

Kim chuckled as Monique and Sarah engaged in a lively conversation about fashion and the coming winter collection; by the looks of it, she hadn't even come close to stealing Monique's thunder.

* * *

"You and Sarah seemed to be very much on the same page," Kim said when she drove Monique back home.

The dark-skinned girl grinned. "Yeah, she's got a real eye for fashion. Can you believe she has the entire 'classics' collection Club Banana used to make?"

Kim sighed wistfully. "A girl can dream…"

The 'classics' collection sported by Club Banana had been a hugely successful selection of designs that had weathered the storms of fashion and had never failed to be fashionable. Of course, part of the success lay in the limits Coco Banana had placed on the amount of sets being sold worldwide; basically a complete 'classics' collection's rarity approached that of the Cuddlebuddy Flamingoat.

Monique had to agree. "I was kind of hoping she would show me the collection, but she lives in Boston… too bad."

Kim smiled. "Cheer up. You might see those collections once you rise in the ranks of fashion."

"I do hope so," Monique said before stepping out of the car when they arrived at her home. "Want to come in for something to drink?"

"Thanks, but we're having dinner early. Jim and Tim have a big soccer match tonight against a team from Go City."

Monique frowned. "They still do that? I thought they quit over half a year ago."

Kim shrugged. "Mom said they needed to have some activity outside, and running around with home-made rockets wasn't enough."

Monique chuckled and walked to the front door. "Have fun watching."

"Thanks, I suppose," Kim muttered before heading home.

* * *

"What are you guys doing 'round here? Drinking the stuff?"

"Shut up and refill the tank," the generator technician snapped at the truck driver, "you can make lame jokes on your own time."

The technician did have some reason to be angry; thanks to that very annoying hacker who called himself 'The Shadow,' the power had been cut off more times than they could count. Fortunately, the generators were out of the hacker's reach, but he did have the capability of turning the facility's power consumption up to the max.

Add to that the heightened level of security, meaning that all of the systems were on 'active' instead of any being on standby, and the generators were greedily emptying the huge propane tank that normally sustained the 'facility' for over a year.

Of course, an unscheduled refill wasn't really a problem; it was just part of a day's job. But when one had to supervise the tank filling in the pouring rain, it became a very thankless task.

Ignoring the fact that the propane truck driver also had to deal with the rain, the technician led the other man to the refill station. At least that spot had something resembling a roof.

"Just plug it in and refill," the technician said, "you've got enough, right?"

The driver smirked. "Don't tell me how to do my job, and I won't tell you how to do yours." Then he proceeded to unhook the thick cable that would transfer the propane from the truck to the generator tank.

The pump started to work and the truck began emptying its load.

"Nice system you got," the driver said with admiration, "completely submerged tank and a top drain… afraid the tank will pop?"

"Would you mind your own business?" the technician growled; he didn't like nosy people.

"He's just curious. Let him be." Another man stepped under the shelter, seemingly not fazed at all by the rain. He moved his hand over his head to push the thick strands of dark hair from his eyes and looked at the truck driver. "You're right though, we've had an idiot trying to blow the place by exploding the propane tank. Fortunately, he failed, but since then we decided to dig in and shield the tank. And seeing as they're completely surrounded by ground, we had to use a top feeder. But the pipe can go all the way down in the tank."

The driver chuckled. "Wow, most of the time I fill backyard tanks. This is really something else; that tank will probably empty the entire truckload."

As they waited for the respective tanks to fill and empty, the dark-haired man and the truck driver engaged in some small talk regarding propane tanks and the dangers they possessed. The technician merely stood to the side with a gruff expression.

When the tank was filled, the technician and the dark-haired man walked off as the truck driver hooked his cable back on the truck.

"Don't snap at people when they ask questions," the dark-haired man mildly chided the technician. "It only makes them more curious. You really need to learn how to distract people with a smile and a fake story."

"But it was all true!" the technician objected.

"So?" the other man chuckled. "Don't lie if you don't have to. Save it for when you need to and you will most likely be believed then."

As he stepped back into the truck, Will Du removed the fake mustache and gave a small smile as he watched the two men walk off; phase one had been completed.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you liked it, I appreciate feedback. I hope it won't take me too long to get the next chapter ready.


	14. The Challenge

Thanks everyone for reviewing. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks to _Kwebs_ and _Slipgate _for beta-reading the story.

**

* * *

Chapter 14: The Challenge**

Christmas approached, and the Possible home was starting to get into the feel of the season. There were lights surrounding the house, a Christmas tree inside, and of course the garden stuffed with items that would light up Middleton on Christmas Eve. The neighbors were already scrambling for their sunglasses.

"Looks like we'll be getting quite some snow," Mr. Dr. Possible remarked as he looked at the weather channel.

"Hoosha, a white Christmas," Jim said happily.

"And without us getting the snow cannon ready," Tim added with a grin.

"That thing you made was a snow_ball_cannon," Kim groused. Before she could go on, the Kimmunicator sounded its familiar four-tone chime. "What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Everything is ready for operation 'pearl,' so Will wants to head out as soon as possible," Wade said from the Kimmunicator screen.

"Now?" Kim asked. "It's almost Christmas, and I really want to spend it with the fam."

"I understand, but you should have more than enough time to get home before Christmas. If the plan works it will only be a day."

Kim sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll be ready in ten, fifteen minutes."

"Great. I'll call Ron," Wade promised.

"Bye mom," Kim said as she gave her mother a quick hug before running out the door and toward the GJ jet that hovered in waiting. "We'll be back before Christmas, I promise."

She hopped through the hatch door and met with Ron and Will, who were already inside. "Okay, let's do this quick. I don't want us to miss our first Christmas as a couple in some Mediterranean village."

"That all depends on the success of Ron's plan," Will said as he piloted the jet into the air.

"Way to put on the pressure," Ron muttered, but his mood improved immediately when Kim gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"I know your plan will work Ron. It's a great plan."

* * *

It took the group about four hours to cross the Atlantic and arrive in Spain, where they had found out the pearl was held.

Will Du landed the Global Justice plane at a European facility of the agency and led the teens to the safe house where they went over the plans one last time.

"Any questions?" he asked after the briefing. Kim and Ron shook their heads. "Very well, good luck then."

Kim gave the agent a brief smile. "Thanks, we'll see you in a bit."

"Yeah, but be prepared if we are in need of a quick getaway," Ron said; even though both Kim and Will had considered his plan foolproof, he was very aware of how plans, especially the ones he concocted, could go wrong.

* * *

"Sir, 'The Shadow' is at it again."

"Good." The dark-haired man stood up from his chair. "Get everyone ready. We'll be facing an attack shortly."

The technician knew better than to question his superior's decision; the man had never been wrong before. "Do you want any special precautions?"

"I think this has been teamwork, so they may try to enter with more persons as well. Make sure the guards keep looking once we capture one."

"Yes sir."

* * *

"Ready?" Kim asked as she and Ron walked through the dark streets toward their goal: a huge mansion sitting alone in the middle of a very well-kept lawn. Several flag posts stood on the small patch of grass next to the driveway in front of the main entrance, showing that this building also served other purposes than housing the mysterious agency called 'The Guardians of the Pearl.' Further ahead was a service road that Will had told them about after he had paid his visit to the generator tank.

"Ready as ever." Ron stopped walking and stood beside his girlfriend as they waited for Wade to do his magic.

* * *

"Do you see anything?"

"Nope, nothing on the monitors… did the light just flicker?"

"What do you mean?"

The dark-haired leader of the 'organization' looked up as well while the technicians in the control room kept looking out for problems or troublemakers. "I saw it too, check the status of the generators."

The technician did as told. "Nothing there sir, mixture looks fine, RPMs are normal… wait…"

"What is it?" the leader stood up from his seat and looked over the technician's shoulder.

"The mixture just changed for a moment… the propane content went down 50% briefly… but that's impossible."

The dark-haired man frowned thoughtfully. "Unless…"

Before he could say anything else, the generators began to sputter and ground to a halt, and all the lights went off, including the monitors and the computers.

* * *

"Now!" Both Kim and Ron activated the high speed, short distance jetpacks and crossed the distance across the grass to the building in mere seconds.

* * *

Red emergency lights switched on automatically and the computers and monitors reactivated again, this time on their batteries. The security grid also turned on again, and all available men looked at their monitors to see if anything had changed.

"We've been down for about eight seconds," the lead technician said, "and it looks like nothing has changed."

The dark-haired man shook his head with a bemused grin. "They filled the tank with nitrogen or something like that. That's the only possibility… they're clever."

"But not clever enough. We also have batteries to power the entire system," one of the technicians remarked. "We'll be ready for them."

* * *

Gasping for breath and softly groaning in pain from the sudden acceleration and deceleration, Kim and Ron still managed to give each other a thumbs-up. "Wade did it again; we're in."

Wade had correctly assumed that the 'Guardians of the Pearl' would have additional backups over their generators. But he also knew a system as big as was deployed here needed some time to switch power sources. And while main power and generator power went through a large capacitor to make the transition smooth, when the power was decentralized it took the system a while to cope. Wade had guessed seven seconds.

Kim smirked. "We've only finished phase two. Now comes the hard part."

Ron sighed. "I know, but still… I bet we came closer than many others."

Kim chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Sure. Come on, we don't want to stay in the monitor-shadow for too long or they might just check it out."

Any building with the shapes of the building that Kim and Ron were about to break into was bound to have 'shadows'; spots the sensors and cameras had trouble reaching. And since filling everything up with cameras was too expensive even for organizations as rich as the 'Guardians' the shadows were manually checked every now and then, either by a robot or by a patrol.

* * *

"Anything on the scanners?" The dark-haired man asked as someone else entered the control room. She was a tall woman with a slender build that radiated the same confidence as the man did.

"Nothing," the technician who was asked the question said, "I don't get it. They've clearly wasted their window by now."

"Or they are already inside," the woman suggested as she stepped next to the man, who acknowledged her presence with a curt nod.

"Glad you could make it. Is the team prepared?" he asked.

The woman smiled. "As always. Do you want them to search the building?"

The man shook his head. "No, whoever is trying to enter, they're of a different level than most of the ones before. They'll just dodge the patrols… This might actually be an exciting hunt."

"You think they're as good as Jones?" the woman asked.

"The only one who escaped?" the man grinned. "Maybe even better."

"Okay, you've got me curious." the woman said, frowning in thought. "So, we've got more than one about to enter, and they have backup by one amazing hacker."

The two head figures of the Guardians looked at each other as small smiles formed on both faces. The technicians stared confused at them, still completely in the dark.

"Could it be?" the woman asked, more to herself than to her colleague, "Could we be up against Team Possible?"

"They fit the bill," the man said. "But why would they… Global Justice?"

His partner nodded. "They've been trying to find a lead-in for years now. But even the best they've got never even tried. But even so, they don't know the location."

"First things first." The man turned to one of his subordinates. "Use the image of the propane truck driver and match it against all Global Justice agents we know. Do we still have enough power for that?"

"Yes sir," the technician said, "We can run thirty hours at maximum power on the batteries alone. And we shut off all redundant systems, so we should be able to maintain for 72 hours at current use."

"Good. Make sure to purge the propane tank and have it refilled, and analyze the mixture before you use it to refill the tank."

The woman smirked. "Once bitten, twice shy, huh?"

"Yeah. Call in the team and tell them who to look for. As for how they got the location, maybe Jones gave it to them."

The woman shrugged. "He does hold a grudge against us ever since he couldn't get in here." She turned to another of the technicians. "Check Falsetto Jones' interactions with either Global Justice or Team Possible for the past six months."

As the technicians set out to do as told, the dark-haired man had an almost gleeful expression on his face. "This might actually be something; I've always wanted to cross blades with those teens."

The woman nodded. "I heard they're good. You know, when we catch them, we might want to hold on to them a little longer and see if their capabilities in escaping are really as good as is rumored."

* * *

"This is almost too easy," Kim whispered just after she and Ron entered the building.

"If by easy you mean hanging upside down above a door until a patrol walks out and then sneaking in before they turn around to close the door… then yeah, this was easy." The sarcasm was obvious in Ron's voice.

Kim rolled her eyes. "We've done this stuff before. I expected something a little more difficult."

"Well, the air ducts are closed off neatly," Ron said with a small chuckle.

"Okay, I give you that." Kim grinned a bit as well. "Now let's get going."

The teens pressed a button on their belts and their mission clothes changed color until they closely matched one of the standard uniforms used in the building.

"Nice trick," Ron remarked as he fidgeted a bit with the clothing. "Not very comfortable though."

Kim shrugged. "That's the problem with stuff taken from Drakken I guess." She then moved her fingers through her hair to activate another device that changed the color of her hair to straw blond. She also put in colored contact lenses that made her pupils appear blue. "Okay, all set."

Ron had changed the color of his hair to a brownish-red and put in lenses that made his eyes look dark green. "You're sure this will work?"

"I hope so," Kim said, "Wade was sure that if they already figured out who we are and started looking for us, these offset features would convince anyone spotting us that their mind is playing tricks because they're too focused on our appearances."

"Okay… I guess." Ron still wasn't entirely convinced. "Wade got some skill in psychology, so he's probably right. Too bad we can't contact him though."

"Yeah, the building is pretty much completely jammed." Kim looked at the small map they had previously downloaded to the Kimmunicator. "Okay, the front of the building is used for administrative purposes and is pretty much the cover for the organization."

"So it's their 'front,'" Ron quipped, causing Kim to roll her eyes. "Sorry, you were saying?"

"We've already gone over this," Kim said, ignoring Ron's joke, "but it's still touch and go from here. Wade could only guess what the real layout would be. But he thinks the pearl is kept in the east wing, and the control room is probably at the backside of the building."

Ron nodded. "And we're currently on the west side, so we should move through the front to the right?"

"No, we'd be suspicious in the front side," Kim said, "because right now there would be no one there. If a patrol catches us we're in trouble; we need to be in a spot where we can explain our presence. But too close to the control room might also be dangerous."

Ron smiled. "So the middle it is."

Kim chuckled and agreed. Quickly the teens headed deeper inside the building.

* * *

"Everyone knows what they are up against?"

"Yes ma'm." The seven members of the special Guardian team nodded, and one of them summed up the description their leader had just given them. "Young adults, redheaded woman, blond-haired man, highly capable in martial arts and probably equipped with an array of troublesome gadgets."

The woman frowned at the last comment as the rest of the team members, four men and two women, laughed at the joke their colleague had made. "Don't underestimate them!"

"I'm sorry," said the man, who was named Zack and was just entering his forties. "We'll make sure not to underestimate those teens. I've seen footage of their skills and I have to say I'm impressed." Again, the rest of the team showed their agreement, this time with a more serious face.

"Good. It's best if you split up between the administration office, the central building, and the control room. But I'm guessing they will be trying to sneak in through the office."

Zack nodded. "I would have done the same; going with stealth and avoiding all attention."

"Especially since the security is lower in the font part," one of the female members commented.

During the conversation, the other leader of the Guardians had also stepped into the room. The dark-haired man gave his direct underlings a short nod and explained that the normal security would also be making rounds. "You have their beacon code, so you'll know where they are… and you'll know it when the intruders try to pretend to be a security patrol."

* * *

"Any idea why Team Possible would try to steal the pearl?" Sarah asked her companion for the search, Angelo.

The native Spaniard shrugged. "Maybe a bet? Maybe they try to uncover some kind of criminal elements in the organization?" he mused with a slight accent.

"I guess, but maybe… wait, what's that up ahead?" Sarah pointed. "Red hair, blond hair… I think we got them."

Quickly and silently she and Angelo caught up with the two people up ahead. "Freeze, and don't try anything funny."

"Huh?" one of them, the woman, looked around with a shocked expression. "Please don't shoot us!"

Sarah stopped in her tracks when she noticed that the two, who wore standard janitor attire, looked quite different from Team Possible on closer observation, making her wonder how she could have made that mistake. "What are you doing here?" she asked, regaining control of the situation.

The man had turned around as well and held up some plumbing equipment. "We got an immediate request to fix a water pipe that suddenly burst."

"Where?" Angelo demanded.

"Somewhere in the north wing, section A," the woman said, "which is strange, because you would basically have to cut through the wall to burst any pipe there."

"You two better stay behind," Sarah said, "there may be a 'situation' going on. We'll give you clearance after we check it out."

Both janitors shrugged. "Just don't take too long, because we have to clean up all the water as well." they requested.

As Sarah and Angelo proceeded to the appointed location, Angelo reported to the other teams and the leaders of the Guardians.

The female leader of the Guardians keyed her comm to transmit to all teams simultaneously. "Do we have a report of a broken water pipe?" she asked.

"No," came the immediate response, "but just a few seconds ago one of the wall sensors in the central staircase reported a breach."

The woman made a quick calculation. "They were disguised as the janitors. Sarah, Angelo, get to the central staircase. The rest of the teams as well."

Her partner frowned. "You think they will work through the walls to get into the pearl room?" he asked.

"With the equipment they've been shown to use, I wouldn't be surprised," the woman said. "But it will take them some time to get through. I'm sure we can catch them."

* * *

"So far, so good," Kim whispered.

"Yeah, but I hope we'll get through the wall quickly," Ron said in a soft voice as well. "We're way too open here."

They had switched off the hair coloring devices, but kept their clothes in the 'janitor' disguise. In front of them stood what appeared to be their jetpacks put together into a machine that quickly and quietly worked its way through the reinforced wall.

Sarah peered around the corner using a fiber-optic spyglass and noticed the wall was almost completely cut through. She then signaled the rest of the assembled team – only missing two members who were still on their way – to prepare to attack.

"Almost through…" Kim mumbled when she suddenly spun around.

"Don't even try," Zack said, as he and several other members of his team pointed their stun guns at the teens. "This thing is not lethal, but it is extremely painful… or so I've been told."

Kim and Ron looked at each other and then slowly raised their hands.

Zack nodded. "Smart choice, now slowly move away from that machine you've been using."

As Kim took a first step forward, Ron fumbled a bit with his sleeve, causing a series of pellets to shoot out of it. The small balls bounced against the wall and hit the ground in front of the teens. They looked at them with a shocked expression and immediately held their breath.

Having enough self-preservation instinct to know something was amiss, the team backed away a bit, but remained within shooting range of the teens.

Ron was the first unable to hold his breath anymore. With a gasp, he inhaled the greenish gas and immediately dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Kim held on a little longer, and even when the urge for oxygen became too much, she tried to inhale as little as possible. But in the end, she too sagged to the ground, her eyes fixed on Ron with an accusing glare.

"Team to leaders," Angelo said into his comm unit, "we have Team Possible; they took themselves out with some type of knockout gas."

"Are you sure they're not faking?" came the reply.

"Positive," Angelo answered when he saw Zack, who had been standing too close to the teens, cough a bit and then sag to the ground as well. "The gas just took Zack down."

"Alright, we'll send some people with gas masks. Stay away from the gas and await further orders."

* * *

After breaking the connection between the team and ordering someone to bring them gas masks, the dark-haired man sat down with a slightly disappointed expression. "I had expected better from them, much better."

The woman shrugged. "Some stories about those two may have been exaggerated. Besides, their tricks to get into the building and past the teams were pretty good."

The man chuckled. "Remind me to cut the pay for Sarah and Angelo this month. They should have been paying more attention."

"I'll let them pay for the damage to the wall," the woman said. "But still, that was a nice psychological deceit. Do you still want those kids to try and escape though?"

"Sure, why not? Have them searched for all possible gadgets and put them in separate cells. We will give them one week."

* * *

"So, that's the great Team Possible," David, one of the members of the team that had captured Kim and Ron, said; they had just dragged Zack out of the 'danger zone' and he was slowly coming about. "I really don't understand how they stayed alive so long while taking down villains and whatnot."

"Truth be told, I had expected a little more too." Sarah wouldn't say she was a fan of Kim Possible, but she had followed the news surrounding the girl with some interest.

* * *

It didn't take long before a few technicians arrived carrying a set of gas masks. Sarah and Angelo both put on a mask and stepped into the cloud of slow-moving gas. It was a good thing that it was heavier than air and mainly stuck to one place, Sarah contemplated, or they would all have felt its effects. "I'll take the girl. Watch out for those machines."

Angelo nodded and headed over to Ron. But when he crouched down to pick the boy up, his hands went right through.

Confused, Angelo looked back and noticed Sarah was having the same problem. "What's going on?"

"It's a hologram!" Zack was the first to understand. "They've tricked us."

"But the walls…" David quickly put on a gas mask and ran over to the devices. But before he could reach them, both cases disappeared in a series of miniature explosions, after which Kim and Ron literally vanished and a veritable cloud of more gas was released. However, the teams could see even through the thick gas that the walls were, in fact, unharmed.

As the team quickly backed off, Angelo called the control room. "It was a decoy! They used a hologram of themselves… they could be anywhere by now."

* * *

"They're smarter than we thought."

"Way smarter." For the first time during the 'hunt' the Guardian leaders were showing signs of frustration.

The man turned to one of the technicians. "Did they already make it to the pearl room?"

"I'm not sure sir," the technician said. "All the alarms in the room are still functional and the cameras don't show anything out of order."

"They had almost fifteen minutes before we found out the decoy," the woman said with a frown. "Unless they don't know where the room is, they should have gotten to it."

"The team will be there in two minutes." The dark-haired man stood up from his seat and began pacing around. "I don't like to narrow our line of defense so far."

* * *

David led the six remaining members of his team – Zack was brought to the infirmary to make sure the knockout gas didn't have any lasting effects – to the pearl room. "We have arrived at the pearl room. No sign of the intruders."

He had barely closed the connection when he heard someone coming toward them, running around the corner. "KP, I have the pearl, I… uh-oh…"

Ron skidded to a stop when he faced the team, he was carrying a case each team member knew very well, and they could see the pearl inside.

"H-how?" David stammered as he looked at the still locked door of the room, he had heard nothing about the alarms sounding and he was certain that no one could have gotten into the room without setting off the alarm.

As Ron dashed in the other direction, away from the team, David started to run after him. "Sarah, Angelo, check the room, maybe the girl is still inside."

Sarah nodded and called the control room to open the door. The rest of the team, sans her and Angelo, went in pursuit of Ron.

Sarah's next shock came when, as the door opened, she saw the pearl standing neatly in its case in the middle of the room.

Before she could say anything or enter the room, a fake ceiling tile dropped away and Kim dropped to the ground. In her landing she managed to both tackle Sarah and Angelo and shoot her grappling gun at the case that held the real pearl.

The specially designed grappling hook shot through the case and grabbed hold of the pearl as every alarm in the room activated due to the movement of the hook. And as the door closed at its highest speed, the powerful retraction motor of the grappling gun pulled the hook with the pearl back at an even faster rate, allowing both items to pass the doorframe mere moments before the door completely shut.

Kim smiled at the still-dazed agents. "That one was a bit tricky; didn't know how fast that door would close." Then she ran off as well.

* * *

"The boy has the pearl and is heading to the north side of the building!"

"The girl just obtained the pearl and is heading to the roof!"

"Attention! The security of the pearl room has been breached! Immediate assistance needed!"

In the cacophony of calls the leaders of the Guardians tried to make sense of a seemingly perfect operation that had turned into complete chaos.

"David, what is going on?" the dark-haired man asked; at the same time, his partner asked Sarah the same question.

"The boy has somehow gotten the pearl," came the gasping reply, "he was heading to the front of the building, but is just trying to go back over the second floor now. Two of my group await him."

"The boy was a distraction," Sarah said, in not much better condition than David, "When we opened the door the girl knocked us down and grabbed the pearl."

* * *

Ron was doing his best to keep ahead of the group that was chasing him, and he hadn't had time to look behind him to see how many had followed him. He did, however, notice that it wasn't the entire team chasing him when he saw two members coming at him from the direction he was heading in.

"Hand over the pearl!" the woman commanded. However, her partner was completely fed up with the tricks Team Possible had been playing on them and shot at Ron with his taser gun before the sentence was even finished.

Unable to dodge the tacks in the hallway, Ron tried to use the pearl case as a shield. Fortunately for him, it worked and the high-voltage shock only resulted in a small tingling feeling in his fingers.

However, the current did prematurely set off the final distraction he and Kim had prepared. The case, which was actually a neatly disguised smoke bomb, exploded in a puff of smoke that filled the entire hall in mere seconds.

Using the confusion to his advantage, Ron crawled past the two agents as they tried to find their bearings in the harmless, but very thick, smoke.

* * *

As the comm chatter became even more chaotic after the smoke bomb and peoples' realizations that most of the teams were chasing the wrong person, the dark-haired man sighed. "Activate the segmentation doors."

"Sir, that will also lock up the teams that are inside the building," the technician said, even as he keyed in the necessary commands.

"I know," the man said. "We'll have to check every segment one by one, and do that before the girl escapes with the pearl. But this fox hunt is only working in their advantage… warn the teams."

* * *

"You're shutting the segmentation doors?" David asked as he blindly searched his way out of the smoke. "I can't see a darn thing here-OW!" he cursed as he hit his head on a corner of the wall. "Yeah, close the doors, I'll sit here and wait until the smoke clears."

After the smoke had cleared somewhat, David called the rest of the teams. "Any luck catching either of those two?"

"No," came the replies, although Angelo reported he had seen the girl running into the staircase before the door began closing. "That's good," he replied, "then at least we know where the pearl is."

The teams of technicians worked swiftly toward the staircase where Kim was last spotted, manually opening the segmentation doors. Soon they freed Sarah and Angelo, who had been one door apart.

"She could be on any level," Sarah said, a bit redundantly since the technicians knew very well that there were no doors separating the stairs into segments.

"No problem. We're at the lowest level of this staircase, so we'll just work our way up." one of the technicians replied. The technician thought for a moment before adding, "But we will close this door again so she can't get out even if she manages to pass us."

Sarah nodded and checked on the rest of the teams. "No one is trying to catch the boy?"

"We're spread too thin to catch them both at the same time," the technician said, "and the fans are still working on clearing the smoke; we don't want him to use that as cover to escape."

They closed the last door they had opened before entering the command to open the door leading to the staircase. "No one here; she must have tried her luck at a different floor."

* * *

"This time they came really close," the woman said, slowly beginning to relax a bit again.

"They even managed to get away with the pearl for a while," her partner agreed, "no one ever managed that before."

"Sir?" one of the few technicians remaining in the control room said with a confused expression. "I think there is something wrong with my control panel."

Both the man and woman stood up, too often tricked that day to remain relaxed after such a comment, and looked surprised at the control panel as the lights began jumping all over and sparks began to fly. "That can't be, the control room is separated from outside sources… and no one entered…"

Suddenly alarms began to blare and the entire control room turned into chaos. And all the occupants of the room could do was stare in shock as all defense systems shut down and all segmentation doors opened.

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah, I know. Bit of a cliffhanger here, but for once one in favor of Team Possible. I hope you liked this chapter, reviews are always appreciated.


	15. Home before Christmas

Thanks everyone for reviewing. I hope you will enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter.

**

* * *

Chapter 15: We'll be home for Christmas**

Suddenly alarms began to blare and the entire control room turned into chaos. And all the occupants of the room could do was stare in shock as all defense systems shut down and all segmentation doors opened.

* * *

With Sarah in the lead, the group of Guardians and the regular guards rushed up the stairs. They soon spotted Kim standing at the topmost stairs, trying to open the locked door that led to the roof exit.

Turning around, the redhead looked at the approaching group and got ready to fend off their attack.

With two flights of stairs to go, Sarah and Angelo prepared their stun weapons. The guards behind them did the same, even though they would only be backup.

Just as the Guardians arrived at the last corner and got a straight line to attack the girl, the lights switched off and the lock on the door opened.

"No!" Sarah cried in frustration as she heard Kim push the door open and run off to the roof. She still fired her stun gun, but the shot bounced harmlessly off the doorframe.

"She's still locked on the roof," Angelo said, "There are no escape routes except for this one. And I doubt she wants to risk a sixty foot fall."

Sarah nodded. "Guard these doors," she ordered four of the guards. "Stay on the inside and shoot at anything that tries to get in. Only let us pass when we use the proper code and walk in slowly so you can see us clearly."

* * *

Walking through the building – all the segmentation doors had opened – Ron was careful to remain unnoticed by the technicians, guards, and Guardians who were running around frantically. Finally, he stopped when he heard chittering close by.

He crouched down and scooped Rufus up. "Great work little buddy. They never expected such a tiny intruder."

Rufus' pride at shutting down the control room was slightly put off by Ron calling him 'tiny,' but he quickly forgave his friend, letting it pass as a slip of the tongue.

With Rufus in his pocket, Ron quickly made his way out of the building using one of the side exits.

* * *

In the darkened control room, the leaders of the Guardians stared at the ruined control panels. "How did they…"

The dark-haired man sighed, but then stood up with a set expression. "They haven't won yet. The girl is still on the roof, with the team chasing her. And I'm sure they have a hideout in the village."

The woman grinned. "So we're down to retrieval before they escape?" she replied as she stood up as well. "I'll call our contacts in the town."

* * *

Kim dashed across the roof with the Guardians in hot pursuit. She was actually grinning as the adrenaline rush heightened her senses and allowed her muscles to extract even more power; the whole exercise had been nothing but excitement for her, and at the moment she felt so on top of things that she had the feeling she could fly if she wanted to.

"She's at the end of the roof! Nowhere to go from there!" Kim paid the pursuing triumphant voices behind her no heed and continued her mad run.

"She's going to jump!" The voices behind her were now getting panicked. "Stop! You'll fall. It's a sixty foot drop."

Kim stepped with one foot on the slightly raised wall that surrounded the roof and launched herself into the air. As she flew freely through the air, she heard the group behind her skid to a stop and slam hard into each other.

* * *

Ron had just crossed the corner to the front side of the building when he saw Kim jump off the roof, sixty feet above him. His heart caught in his throat. "KP!"

* * *

Sarah slammed hard into the small wall and felt another guard crash into her. But all she could see was the reckless girl that had just jumped off the roof.

* * *

Using her arms to prevent herself from tumbling, Kim had already dropped halfway down before she hit the object for which she had been aiming.

Very grateful for the gloves she wore, Kim used her hands and feet to slow her descent as she slid down one of the flagpoles in front of the building. She wouldn't admit it to anyone but herself, but she was extremely relieved that she had aimed right during her run across the roof.

Unable to take out all her momentum, Kim pushed away from the flagpole at about six feet above the ground and used her sideways momentum to roll to a stop on the grass.

Almost immediately, she felt someone pull her up. Noticing it was Ron, she gave him a quick peck and together they ran away from the building.

* * *

"They got away." The disappointment in Angelo's voice was obvious.

"I see." The dark-haired man was silent for a moment. "We've set up a containment perimeter around the town. Unless they have transportation directly in their hideout, we can still catch them."

"They're officially the new record holders," the woman said with a smirk after the man had closed the connection. "But if we let them get away, our reputation is gone."

"Ten years wasn't bad," the man countered, but then sighed. "But it will really hamper our primary business… and I doubt we can get Team Possible on our side in that regard."

The woman smirked. "Yeah, you can certainly forget about that. So if we can't catch them and our potential clients find out after the award, we have to find a new occupation?"

"The offers will still come in, even if on a slightly lower scale, and the money isn't the problem. But I for one will not go on without the challenge."

"Well, even if they manage to get away, we still have the challenge of capturing them for the award. I doubt they will come voluntarily."

The man laughed. "You are right about that, but that is still a last resort option."

* * *

"They're searching for us," Kim whispered as she and Ron carefully made their way through the small alleys of the Spanish town on the way to the safe house.

"Aw man," Ron whined, "just when it went so great… well, can't blame them actually."

Kim smiled in agreement, and then ducked behind some bags when she heard someone approaching. She dragged Ron down just in time to prevent him from being seen.

Taking a look at the Kimmunicator screen, she sighed. "They're still on all-out jamming. I can't contact Wade or even Will."

"I thought we blew out their entire system," Ron said with a frown, "you think they've got backup somewhere close?"

Kim nodded. "Seems like it. Come on, we're almost there."

* * *

A few minutes later, they entered the house where Will Du was anxiously waiting. "Did you succeed?"

Kim took the pearl from her belt pouch and quickly showed it to the GJ agent before putting it away again. "We have to get out of here."

"No," Will said firmly, "they have the entire town under surveillance; we won't be able to get out."

Kim frowned. "Sure we can – the same way we just snuck into town. We just got here, remember? Besides, I promised mom and dad we'd be home before Christmas Eve."

"But we are ahead here time-wise, right?" Ron asked.

Kim nodded. "Yes, by seven hours. But we can get out now. Here's my plan…"

"It takes the GJ jet five hours to cross the Atlantic. We've got until six p.m. local time while we can still make it to your Christmas." Will interjected. "Mind you, we may have to lay low for longer. And since we can't contact Global Justice, I'm in charge of the operation."

Kim's eyes grew wide, and she looked about to explode. "WHAT! You pompous…" she began, moving toward Will. Ron had to physically restrain her to stop her from hurting Will.

"KP, let it go. Hurting him won't help right now." He glared at the Will. "Even though he deserves it… What's going on Will? I thought you had changed."

Will Du stared stoically at the teens. "After the success we had until now, we can't just run out and improvise and lose everything again. Now get down in the cellar where we can hide properly."

Still fuming, Kim followed Will into the spacious cellar beneath the safe house, Ron following close behind.

"At least there are multiple exits," Kim noted. "What about security?"

"Sensors that indicate when the doors open, and a reinforced ceiling," Will explained. "No outside cameras, because those could give the house away."

"So, we just sit here and wait for them to comb out the town?" Kim clearly hadn't forgiven Will if the tone of her voice was any indication.

"Yes," Will said matter-of-factly, "they will give up soon enough, thinking we have already escaped."

Ron sighed. "Got a deck of cards?"

* * *

Seeing as Will refused to play cards in favor of monitoring the few sensors the hideout provided, and Kim wanted to do a series of complicated katas to blow off steam, Ron and Rufus were limited to playing a few two-person games.

"Come on KP, can't you play one game with us?" Ron asked, but Kim had stopped her workout and was listening intently. "Someone is in the safe house."

"Impossible," Will said, "the sensors would have picked it…"

He was interrupted when the door burst open and a dark-haired man walked in with a friendly smile on his face. "It seems you have a pearl that belongs to us. Would you be so kind as to return it? We'll even let you get away after that."

"Not going to happen," Will snapped, jumping away from the monitor and getting his stopwatch ready to fire.

Suddenly, he crashed to the ground in spasms and clearly in pain.

"Never have your back to a door," Kim scolded the barely conscious agent. Then she turned her attention to the man. "How did you find us?"

The man grinned. "Echo scan to find anomalies in the ground under the town, and the electronics were child's play, but you are familiar with that, right?" He then looked at Rufus. "So that's the one responsible for wrecking the control room… I guess you'll have to pay ransom for him too to get free, or we'll never get the costs down."

"Stop ranting and capture them, will you?" came a mildly scolding voice. Into the room stepped a tall woman, still holding the taser with which she had shocked Will.

The man, however, was looking with interest at Kim. "Kim Possible, I presume?"

Kim smirked back. "And to whom do I have the honor?"

"My name is not important, but I am interested if you're willing to fight your way out of here."

"As opposed to just surrendering?" Kim replied. She looked around as more people entered the room through the three doors; she and Ron were pretty much backed to the wall. She did have a few smoke pellets left, but it seemed useless here, seeing as the doorways were blocked anyway.

The man smirked. "I think I can say I'm the most dangerous one here, and I really wanted to take you on some day in a hand-to-hand fight… think of it like this, if you get past me, your chances are a lot better, but if you can't even get past me, you might as well give up."

The woman – Kim supposed she was the man's associate and at least equal – threw up her hands in frustration. "Always wanting to be the macho man." Nevertheless, she nodded at the guards to give the two some room, certain that the 'thieves' still couldn't get away.

Seeing that there really was no way out, Kim decided to take any opportunity to delay their capture, and got in a fighting stance.

* * *

The man attacked with astonishing speed, but Kim had been prepared for that. She managed to dodge the first strike and use the second to increase her own momentum to hit back.

The man moved his head just enough so that the blow Kim had intended for his face just grazed his jaw. With the footwork of an experienced boxer, he danced away from the redhead, only to attack again moments later from a slightly different angle.

Kim was superior in speed and agility, but her opponent easily made up for that with strength and capacity to absorb hits. Both fighters were well-versed in human anatomy and their battle quickly transformed into a strategic match of exploiting each others' weaknesses and hitting nerve points.

"Care to tell how you got those illusions so convincing?" the man asked conversationally, even though his breathing was already picking up.

Kim smirked. "Wade already has pretty good working holographic technology, so all we needed to do was act the most likely 'caught' scene a couple of times."

"And the gas pellets?" the man inquired as he jumped over a leg sweep.

Kim turned the sweep into a roll to prevent her opponent from stomping down on her leg. "Also an illusion. The projectors had a reservoir to disperse the actual gas."

The rest of the guards and Guardians stared in awe at the match, and some even began placing bets. Even the other leader of the Guardians had to admit this was quite an exciting battle. She occasionally glanced at Ron, who was still standing close to the wall, but didn't seem to be a threat.

None of the agents paid heed to the small rodent that ran around between their feet.

* * *

While her opponent fought like a boxer, mainly using his hands and arms and using his feet solely for balance, Kim used her entire body in the fight, kicking and hitting and only occasionally having even one foot on the ground. Yet somehow there was no moment when she was unbalanced.

However, both parties were starting to get fatigued and the top speeds from the first strikes of the fight were no longer matched.

Even though the dark-haired man was still confident, he was certainly feeling the effects of the fight. He had only gotten two or three solid hits in against his adversary, while Kim had gotten through his defense over a dozen times. And the massive number of blocks he had to perform to shield himself were also taking their toll.

"_It may be time to put an end to this,_" he thought as the redhead dodged another one of his hits and kicked upwards to hit him under his armpit.

Kim must have been thinking along the same lines, as she, after failing to disable her opponent's arm, jumped high to deliver a powerful kick. The man saw his chance and grabbed her foot with both hands. With a grin, he then twisted his body to swing the redhead to the ground with all the force he could muster.

But just at the apex of his swing, Kim folded her knees and kicked out to his face with her free leg, showing even more agility than the man had expected when she had to get into a full split to get the kick across.

Unable to defend with both hands clasping Kim's foot, he had to face the full blow to his face. And even though the power of the blow was lessened because Kim had to overextend, it was enough to knock him down and out.

* * *

Trying to catch her breath, Kim saw she was now facing the other half of the Guardian leaders. "Nice blow to his confidence… and his face. Now, you can make it easier on yourself by giving up after aAAAAHHH!"

With a pained shriek, the woman fell to the ground. Kim, very surprised by the sudden turn of events, suddenly noticed a set of wires running from her to the stopwatch Ron had somehow obtained. Her blond boyfriend smiled deviously. "Didn't you say something about watching your back?"

"How…" Kim started to ask, but then she noticed the twenty-odd agents getting their stun weapons ready.

Ron was still smiling. "Rufus helped a bit. Speaking of which, care to do the honors, little buddy?"

"Uh-huh." The light chittering made the agents look at Rufus for a moment; the mole rat stood on top of a pile of three stun guns that the dark-haired man had dropped prior to his fight with Kim. Rufus had somehow jury-rigged them together, and a wire ran from the guns between the legs of each agent in the room.

Before they could do anything against the new threat, Rufus pulled the trigger.

The distributed electrical shock was not powerful enough to knock the agents out, but it did leave them in a convulsing mass of entangled arms and legs.

"Are you okay KP?" Ron asked as they used the opportunity to grab Will Du, who was slowly coming to his senses, and ran out of the cellar.

"Good enough," Kim said; the match had taken a lot out of her, but she still had some fight left.

Not surprisingly, several guards had been left outside of the underground hideout. And even though most of them had entered the cellar when the fight started, some were still outside.

They were still no match for Team Possible, and soon they too were down.

* * *

Escaping to the base where the GJ jet waited proved little trouble, and soon the trio – quartet, counting Rufus – was in the air. Kim was flying the craft while Will, who had not yet fully recovered from the shock, sat in the co-pilot seat, monitoring her actions.

Ever since discovering Kim's stunning ability to learn how to fly a spacecraft by merely watching someone else flying it once, Global Justice had invested quite some time in getting her – and to a smaller extent, Ron – to learn to pilot a variety of ground, water, and air vehicles. Most of it had been in virtual reality because of their age, but after their 16th and 17th birthdays they also tested in real craft.

While Ron proved to be a disaster in the beginning, crashing so many VR vehicles that the instructors were loath to have him try in a real one, Kim was an enigma to the Global Justice vehicle instructors. In every virtual reality transport she was placed in, she showed remarkable results after only one or a few observations of how they worked. But the moment an instructor sat next to her and began taking notes, whether in a VR or real vehicle, Kim immediately clammed up and panicked. And although she managed to keep the vehicles more or less intact – only significantly shortening the timeframe between routine inspections – the GJ vehicle instruction team was at a loss of what was going on.

Eventually, Ron was the one who made the connection between Kim's initial difficulties with driving lessons at school and her sudden inability to control vehicles she used to have no trouble with.

Using that information, it was soon figured out that Kim was at her best when determined, angry, or distracted from whoever was observing her progress.

Getting Kim in such a state was not always easy, but fortunately, once she moved past her 'mental block,' she could progress from there with little difficulty and shake off her initial reaction to piloting while under observation.

Of course, currently, Kim was both angry and determined, so she had little difficulty flying the jet. "If we miss Christmas because of your idea, I'm personally going to hand you back to the Guardians, pearl and all."

Even while making sure he was out of the redhead's reach, Will Du managed to maintain his air of confidence. "The only difference that making a run for it would have made was that they would have caught up with us, and maybe even found out where the jet was hidden."

Kim decided not to respond to that, but was mentally preparing a report of what had happened, seeing as official reports still seemed the best way to get to GJ's number one agent.

"We'll make it KP," Ron said reassuringly, "even if we have to circumvent that storm area we'll have hours to spare."

"We could have stayed ahead of that storm too if we had taken off immediately," Kim said with a scowl. "And if it wasn't packing so much snow, we could have flown through it anyway."

Ron gulped. "Let's just fly around it,. We really do have plenty of time."

* * *

They did arrive in time, even after making quite a detour to avoid the storm that turned out to be a blizzard. In fact, it was still afternoon when they arrived at the Global Justice base.

Kim wanted to leave immediately, but Will had somehow gotten it in his head to have her immediately report her 'thoughts' on the matter.

"Are you sure?" Ron tried asking. "As far as I see, KP was fully in her right to question your orders."

"I am sure," Will said. "In absence of a commander of Dr. Director's level or in absence of communications, I am the highest in command and my orders should be followed, even by freelance agents such as the two of you, during Global Justice missions or general business regarding Global Justice."

"Excellent rehearsal of the rulebook," Dr. Director, who had just walked up on them, remarked. Her frustration with Will Du was clear on her face. "Did you even consider Miss Possible's suggestion?"

"I did, and given the information we had at that point, my own plan seemed the best choice."

"You didn't even let me defend my point," Kim spat.

"Please, let's not get into a shouting match here." Dr. Director looked at both Will and Kim. "If you have issues regarding the mission, you can file those and they will be dealt with accordingly."

"Oh, I will," Kim said, "I can't work like this if my opinions are not only not valued, but just cast aside."

"If you have issues with my command, you can join Global Justice, work your way up and surpass me in command," Will said stiffly, "or you can quit this and leave this to trained professionals."

"We just did a mission you yourself admitted none of you could do!" Dr. Director had to step in to prevent Kim from assaulting Will, and she too cast the agent an angry glare.

Will shrugged. "Perhaps, but this mission was merely one to obtain something we could have gotten through other means. This hardly qualifies you to the level of a professional."

"Enough!" Dr. Director was getting pretty angry as well now. "Miss Possible… Team Possible had done quite a lot for us over the past few years, and their skills certainly show them capable of a 'professional' level."

She was silent for a moment to ensure she had Kim, Ron, and Will's full attention. "In fact, I think Kim is certainly capable, and showed so on several occasions, of keeping command in situations where there was no contact with me or other commanders. So perhaps we should acknowledge that."

Seeing Kim and Ron's confused frowns, Dr. Director smiled. "Kim, would you be willing accept a status of temporary subsequent commander of Global Justice? This would put you highest in command in absence of me, or in absence of communications with me."

Kim stared at the other woman for a moment. "But… I'm no GJ agent."

"That's even better," Dr. Director explained, "since your status is temporary, until the chain of command can be fixed, no one can accuse you of trying to get higher up in the hierarchy. Of course, accepting this status will begin additional training in which you will deal with issues you may face as a commander of Global Justice."

"You can't do that," Will cut in, "even if she accepts, without formal training of at least two years she can't take up that role."

Dr. Director smirked. "Given Miss Possible's capacities and results to date, I think we can make an exception."

Kim glared at GJ's number one agent. "I accept."

Signing the required documents and accepting dates for the additional training (which apparently could also be used as university credits if Kim chose to) and filing the report regarding the mission took quite some time, and it was already late afternoon when they were finally finished.

Looking at the time, Kim's eyes widened in shock. "We have to go, or we'll miss the lighting of the house."

"That's still more than an hour away," Ron said reassuringly, but he got Kim's point; Christmas with the family was favorable over bickering at GJ.

As they left for the transportation tubes, Ron couldn't shake the feeling that Will seemed a lot less upset about the recent developments than he would have expected from the agent.

* * *

When they got out of the GJ transportation tube closest to their home, Kim and Ron noticed that the blizzard had hit Middleton.

"That storm is worse than I thought," Kim admitted as she tried to shield herself a bit from the pelting snow.

"Yeah, I can hardly see which direction we have to take," Ron agreed.

"Come on." Kim grabbed Ron's hand. "I want to get out of this as soon as possible."

Buffeted by the storm, the teens struggled to get to Kim's home. The streetlights were barely visible and it became more and more difficult to determine street from sidewalk. Occasionally, Kim or Ron stumbled off the sidewalk and nearly tripped.

* * *

However, after quite some time wandering through the blizzard, Kim got the feeling they should have arrived already. She put her head close to Ron's to make herself understandable. "Do you know where we are now?"

Ron tried looking up to a familiar landmark, but the visibility was no more than three feet, and often even less. "Maybe you should call Wade."

"Good idea." Kim tried to grab the Kimmunicator from her pocket without removing her mittens. Fortunately, they had brought winter clothes with them on the mission. When she took it out, she accidentally dropped the device. "Oh, no!"

Dropping to her knees, Kim began to search for the Kimmunicator, and soon Ron got down to help as well. But no matter what they tried, the device seemed to be gone.

"Maybe it bounced off," Ron suggested, and the teens spent some more time searching for it in a wider circle.

Eventually, already chilled to the bone, they gave up. "We have to find some shelter. We'll look for it tomorrow, when the storm is gone."

But their search had taken them a bit away from the sidewalk, and they couldn't find it anymore.

"Maybe we're in someone's back yard," Ron said, hoping that was true.

"Or we're at the end of the street," Kim said with a bit more worry in her voice. Behind the street where her house stood there was huge open terrain; if they were walking there now there wouldn't be shelter nearby.

* * *

After stumbling through the snow for another fifteen minutes, Kim and Ron were huddled together and shivering uncontrollably.

"M-maybe just sticking close and using the snow for isolation?" Ron suggested.

"If we could just walk in a straight line, we'd be home already," Kim muttered, but then she nodded, even though Ron probably couldn't see it. "Yeah, if we keep walking around like this, we'll certainly freeze."

Pushing aside some of the snow to create a makeshift shelter, the teens sat down and checked their backpacks for anything that could be useful.

Unfortunately, other than the emergency winter wear they had, their mission gear was prepared with a Mediterranean mission in mind, and most of it was used up anyway.

The shelter didn't help much with the cold, but it kept the wind away a bit. Soon, Kim and Ron found their shivers diminish a bit.

"So stupid," Kim growled, mainly to herself, "We're somewhere close to home, and still lost in a snowstorm."

"Too bad there aren't that many streetlights near your home," Ron said, "or we would have found our way back easily."

He thought for a moment. "You know, around this time of year, there's always a star leading lost people to a safe place… can't we have that?"

Kim smirked, even though it hurt her face. "I wish…" she said, but fell silent when that wish almost immediately came true.

Not too far away, a bright light shone high above the teens.

"Wow," Ron murmured. "That's got to be one of the most beautiful things I've seen."

"Yeah," Kim agreed, but then she took a closer look. "It almost looks familiar."

And then the light was not alone anymore; the entire surroundings were illuminated with bright lights in every color, reflecting against the snow and making everything even brighter.

Though almost completely blinded by the light, Kim couldn't help but grin like an idiot. "It's our front yard! We've been sitting next to our front yard!"

* * *

Walking through the brightly illuminated yard, Kim and Ron quickly arrived at the front door. As Kim was fumbling with the keys, the door opened and Mrs. Dr. Possible, who had seen the two walking through the front yard, stared at the half-frozen teens. "What happened to you?"

"Got caught in the snow storm," Ron said as they shook off as much snow as they could before stumbling inside.

"Couldn't you call Wade?" Jim asked as he and his brother stepped in the hall as well; they too had seen Kim and Ron stumble through the front yard when they had started the Possible Christmas Eve tradition of lighting the house.

Kim looked down, a bit embarrassed. "I dropped the Kimmunicator, and we couldn't find it anywhere."

BEEB BEEB BEEEB BEEB

Kim and Ron stared at each other in utter confusion when they heard the faint chime from the Kimmunicator.

Tim quickly stepped outside and immediately spotted the device, lying in the driveway, not fifteen feet from the house. "You lost it? When?"

Kim gaped at the device for a moment before throwing up her hands in defeat. "Only us, this could only happen to us."

Tim answered the call and got a jolly Wade looking at him in surprise. "I just wanted to say Merry Christmas, where's Kim and Ron?"

"Right here," Kim said and she explained, very embarrassed, how she and Ron must have walked around the house without noticing it and ended up getting lost in the back yard.

Jim and Tim nearly fell over in laughter, and even Kim's mother had trouble suppressing a giggle. But when she noticed Kim and Ron were wet and still ice-cold from the snow, she quickly turned serious again. "Get out of those clothes before you catch a cold, and both of you take a shower. Ron, you can use the downstairs bathroom. Oh, and Kim, Monique passed by earlier today. She said she had a package you were allowed to open tonight. It's on your bed."

Kim frowned, confused, but then shrugged and walked upstairs, anxious to get a bit warmer.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed it, more should be posted soon (I hope). Reviews are always appreciated.


	16. Love, Odds and Ends

Thanks everyone for all the reviews. I hope you will enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 16: Love, Odds and Ends**

Feeling a lot better now that she was clean and warm again, Kim stepped out of the shower and put on a bathrobe before walking in to her bedroom.

It was then that she spotted the fairly large, gift-wrapped box lying on her bed. "_Oh yeah, Monique's gift. Let's see what's in it."_

Taking off the wrapping paper, Kim opened the box and stared wide-eyed at the contents. Two seconds later she had grabbed her phone and hit the speed dial.

"Hey girl," came the voice from the other side of the line. "I take it you've opened the package?"

"How… I mean, the price…" Kim stammered, looking again at the brand new dress that was part of the _only three day old_ winter collection.

Kim could just see her friend's grin, as she no doubt correctly imagined Kim's expression. "It's not my gift actually. Sarah wanted to give you something as well, but before she could reach you, you were already gone on some mission."

Kim remembered Sarah Holding, the woman who Monique had saved a couple of weeks before. "But I didn't… so you have…?"

"You did help," Monique pointed out, "and Sarah offered me to try out and borrow some of her Club Banana's Classics Collection outfits."

"That's so cool!" Kim squealed, "You have to show me the pictures."

"Relax girl," Monique said, "it will probably not be before spring, but Sarah offered me to stay at her place for a long weekend. And she even has contacts with some high-ups in the fashion business."

"You've got to tell me everything," Kim said with a huge smile. "Uh… after Christmas though."

"You got it girl, have a nice Christmas with the fam and your boyfriend."

"You too… I mean, I know you don't have a boyfriend, but…"

Monique laughed at Kim's antics. "I get it. I'll get my boyfriend eventually, now go spoil yours."

Chuckling, Kim hung up and carefully began unpacking the dress and hanging it ready to wear the next day.

* * *

Ron, already cleaned up and in a clean outfit, smiled as Kim walked down the stairs and sat next to him on the couch.

Jim and Tim immediately took the opportunity to hear them out on their troubles in the snowstorm. "So, how did you manage to get lost in the backyard?"

Kim scowled. "Don't you tweebs have something else to do?"

"We wish…"

"…But mom and dad won't allow us to wrestle an anaconda."

"Boys," came their mother's voice from the kitchen, "we talked about this. No trips to the Amazon this Christmas."

"Aw man…"

"…We still can go to the zoo."

"Isn't the zoo closed by now?" Ron asked, causing Kim to roll her eyes.

"Don't encourage them." she muttered.

"So, how did you get lost?" Mr. Dr. Possible asked as he sat down in his favorite chair.

Kim threw her hands up in frustration. "It was a blizzard, we were cold and we couldn't see two feet ahead."

However, her father and brothers' curiosity wasn't satisfied that easily. "Didn't you feel it when the house shielded you from the wind?"

"Didn't you recognize the driveway?"

"Couldn't you see the light on the front porch?"

Mr. Dr. Possible frowned. "Actually, the porch light was out because you drained everything to the outside lighting."

"And the weather forecast mentioned there was a north-east wind," Kim's mother pointed out, "so unless you were actually in front of the house, between the decorations, you would have still caught the brunt of the storm."

Jim and Tim shrugged. "But to get lost in the back yard…"

Kim shot them an angry glare, partially ashamed about the fact that they had gotten lost in her own backyard. Then she shrugged. "We still made it home, and that's the part I prefer to remember."

"So, how did your mission go?" Mrs. Dr. Possible then asked.

Kim's scowl returned. "Ugh, don't get me started. Will is fully back to his old game."

"But the actual mission went great," Ron said.

That made Kim's smile return. "You're right. Your plan worked out in every detail."

As Jim and Tim helped their mother with decorating the tree, Kim gave Ron a slight nudge. "Isn't it time for the most important Christmas tradition?"

Ron shot her a dejected look. "KP, you know they cancelled the show last year. Now there's just that stupid Xtreme Christmas. And you know watching the DVD just isn't the same."

"It's not stupid," Jim said with a glare at Ron.

"They're going skydiving this year," Tim added.

Ignoring her brothers, Kim handed Ron the remote. "Why don't you check channel 873?"

Ron sighed. "KP, you know I know how many channels your cable subscription has, and it only goes up to 872."

Kim smiled. "Not tonight."

Curiously, Ron switched to the mentioned channel, and almost fell off the couch when the introduction to the six tasks of Snowman Hank was just beginning. "But… they quit airing the show… did Wade…?"

Kim grinned. "You would have thought so, but apparently the network manager owed us a favor for keeping the network on the air this fall."

"Was that when we had to realign his satellite?"

Kim nodded. "Anyway, he still had the recordings of the show, and he was willing to put in an extra channel for today."

"Booyah!" Ron cheered, overly happy. "So, we're the only ones receiving Snowman Hank?"

"Not the only ones," Kim responded with a small grin.

* * *

"Dr. D, what happened to your 'We'll take over the world on Christmas' plan? You have everything ready, right?"

"Not now Shego," Drakken said as he sat on his couch, watching Snowman Hank with a gleeful look in his eyes. "I don't know how they knew, but whoever sent me that message was right! 'The Six Tasks of Snowman Hank' is still on, even though it's on a weird channel."

"AARGH," Shego growled, "I'm out of here. See you after New Year's."

* * *

The remainder of the Christmas Eve was uneventful and mainly traditional, with the telling of one of the historic Possible family Christmas stories, the singing of carols, and the preparation of eggnog using a new invention Mr. Dr. Possible created, much to Rufus' joy. The new machine was a lot less bulky than the old one and produced eggnog almost at double speed.

After a great meal the Possible clan, Ron, and Rufus laid sprawled out on the chairs and couches, unable to do much more than look drowsily at the fire.

"Is it already time for presents?" Jim asked; ever since Kim spent at least one Christmas Day at Ron's home when Christmas coincided with Chanukah, the unwrapping of presents was done on Christmas Eve, especially since there were also always presents for Ron.

Tim, who sat closest to the Christmas tree, stretched his arms and reached for one of the presents. "Can't get to it. We'll have to wait."

Kim nestled her head a bit more comfortably on Ron's shoulder and smiled contently. "We can wait."

Eventually, they got to unwrap the gifts. Fortunately for Kim, she noticed her brothers' exchange of glances just in time to dodge when she opened her present, narrowly avoiding a spray of sticky and sparkly confetti that shot out.

"Boys…" Mr. Dr. Possible said sternly as he surveyed the damage done to the Christmas tree that stood in the path of the confetti; the glittery confetti had actually only done good to the tree, making it even more festive. The same could not be said about the couch that had also been hit. "It seems you have some cleanup duty in the morning."

"Aw man," Jim and Tim whined.

"Serves you tweebs right," Kim said with a satisfied grin, still a bit shaken about the near hit.

As was tradition, Ron handed Kim a small envelope. "It's just Bueno Nacho Bucks this time." he admitted. "I spent the rest of my money spoiling you with dinners at expensive restaurants."

Kim grinned. "And it was well worth the money." She gave Ron a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks." Even though the Bueno Nacho Bucks were not much to speak of value-wise, what they stood for made Kim feel warm inside every time, even the times she had thought it was a very cheesy gift – although she wouldn't have admitted it back then. The "warm inside" part, that is. She had always let him know when she thought it was cheesy, to her current chagrin.

Soon it was Ron's turn to receive a present. "Oh… haha… socks… just what I needed."

Kim rolled her eyes. "I couldn't find bubble wrap, okay? Just look inside the bundle."

Ron carefully removed the socks. "Wow! Where did you get this?"

Kim smiled. "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful." Ron admired the two crystalline figures that had a striking resemblance to him and Kim as the light played over them in a wonderful array of colors.

"I've had them for some time already," Kim admitted, "but I never found the right moment to give them to you."

"But where did you get this?" Ron asked. "I've never seen something like this before."

"It's even better in clear sunlight," Kim said. "Remember that mission we had in Hungary?"

Ron pondered for a moment. "The one with the guy who thought he was a vampire?" Unconsciously, Ron's hand moved to his neck.

Kim nodded. "That one. Well, the day after the mission, when we had to wait for our ride home and you had found that ancient computer game store, I took a walk across the shopping center…"

"Oh yeah." Ron grinned. "They still had an Odyssey game console."

"Anyway…" Kim continued, with a glare at her boyfriend, "there was this store that sold all kinds of glass, crystal and ceramic figurines. And then a saleswoman came up to me and told me she had a figurine that looked just like me."

Kim smiled slightly. "First I thought it was just a bargaining trick, but when I saw the figurines standing together on the pedestal I couldn't help but think they looked exactly like you and me."

"They do." Ron took an even closer look. "They really do look exactly like us."

"She almost insisted on giving it to me," Kim said, "I nearly had to force her to buy it."

"Why didn't you take it?" Jim asked.

"It would be cheaper that way," Tim added.

"I don't want people to give me free stuff just for who I am," Kim said. "Besides, what kind of gift would it have been if I then gave it to Ron."

"It's not unfair to accept a gift, honey," Kim's mother pointed out, "sometimes people just want to give you something."

"I know that, but I don't want people to give me something just for what I do. It just doesn't feel right to me."

"I think I know what you mean," Mrs. Dr. Possible began, then picked up the next present with a mirthful smile. "But this gift is one of pure necessity."

Km frowned as she accepted the present. By the weight and shape she could tell it was a book. But when she began unwrapping it and noticed the well-known black and yellow pattern of the series, she shot her mother a mock-angry glare. "And for that you are going to have to eat the first thing I make using this."

"Honey, what have you done?" Kim's father said with a grin as Kim placed the book _Cooking for Dummies_ next to her other presents.

The rest of the evening went by without disturbances, and way too soon for Kim and Ron it was time to say goodnight. Fortunately, the snowstorm had died down, and with the exception of a thick layer of snow it was not difficult for Ron to get to his home.

* * *

The next morning, shortly after breakfast, Kim stood at the front door of the Stoppable residence. Even though the 'official' part of Chanukah would not be until late afternoon or evening, Kim and Ron usually tended to hang out for the rest of the day as well.

She rang the doorbell. Even though Ron and his parents had often told her she could come in whenever she wanted – they had provided her with a key years ago – Kim still felt reluctant to just walk into someone else's home, even if it belonged to her best friend and boyfriend.

It didn't take long before Ron opened the door. "Hey KP, are you ready for…" he began, then his mind stopped working for a moment when he saw the dress his girlfriend wore.

Kim smiled. "Do you like the new dress?"

"S-so that was Monique's present?" Ron asked, still a bit stupefied. "It's badical. I mean, you look badical in it… I mean…"

Kim stopped his rambling with a gentle kiss on his lips. "I think I get the idea."

They walked inside, where Kim received some more compliments on the dress, making her blush slightly. "It was a Christmas gift. Monique really knows what looks good on me."

"I'll say!" Ron agreed.

The rest of the day was spent mostly in relaxation. Ron even managed to convince Kim to play a few videogames with him, but her issues with the controls still worked strongly against her.

"I'm just not good at this," Kim said as she put the controller down. "Besides, I prefer real life."

"Bashing zombies in real life?" Ron shuddered. "That's too weird, even for me."

Kim chuckled and leaned over. "Now, is real life really that bad?"

Ron smiled. "Well, when you put it that way…"

Later that day, after Ron's parents had returned from work, the Stoppable family and Kim prepared for one of the Chanukah traditions.

Even though they were not very religious, the Stoppables did participate in several Jewish traditions. And this would be the first time for Hana to celebrate Chanukah with them.

The little girl was all excited and happy when Ron lit the candles (she had to be cautioned not to touch the flames) and was completely delighted with the gifts she got. Or, to be more precise, with the wrapping paper they came in.

"Just like Ronald when he was her age," Mrs. Stoppable said with a smile.

"Let's hope she won't develop his childhood fears as well." Kim quickly gave Ron a peck on his cheek to make up for that jab.

Ron grinned. "I don't think Hana will be afraid of anything."

"I think so too," his father agreed. "Sometimes I think there is something extra-special about that girl."

* * *

New Year's was uneventful. The Possible and Stoppable families came together to count down the ball dropping, and all too soon into the New Year school began again.

"Aw man," Ron complained as he struggled with the pile of homework he had received on the first day. "What's up with this? Why am I the only one with a pile of homework?"

Kim grinned. "Because you didn't do this class two years ago when you had ample time. What was it you did then again… oh yeah, you attempted to get a slinky to go down the entire staircase of the Middleton overlook point."

Ron huffed. "Well, it did work… eventually."

Kim chuckled, but sobered quickly. "And don't think I have it so much easier just because all my assignments are digital. _US Government and Politics_ is really hard, and we have to research almost everything, not to mention those lectures I have to follow at GJ."

"How are those going anyway?" Ron asked. "And why couldn't I attend?"

"You have too much on your plate already with catching up on classes," Kim explained. "And you apparently need prerequisite courses I already had. Anyway, I'm just glad that those lectures and following classes will be worth university credits."

Ron frowned. "Just how many classes would you need to finish college freshman year anyway?"

Kim shrugged uncomfortably. "According to my university counselor, I can skip freshman year with only a few additional courses. But I don't think I want to do that."

"Why not?" Ron asked. "I mean, I don't want you to hang back because of me."

Kim smiled. "That's not it. Even if that would work out, we could still attend the same college. But I don't want to be dropped into the middle of university life. I'll just see how the first year goes."

* * *

After arriving home, Kim grabbed something to drink and a few snacks and set out to do her homework; experience told her that staring at the huge pile of 'to do' didn't work. Only taking it head-on allowed her to work through all her tasks.

Of course, that attitude only worked when there was someone to keep her in check and prevent her from making all-nighters like she almost did in junior year.

"Kimmie," her mother called from downstairs, "Supper's ready. Don't make me come and get you."

Kim grimaced and saved the files she had been working on. She was glad her mother was concerned about her health, but she could do without the lectures on not taking up too much work; when she dedicated herself to something, she did it fully and without much concern for herself.

"…_Okay, maybe mom has a point._" Kim grinned to herself as she considered her sometimes stubborn dedication while going downstairs for dinner.

* * *

"Ron, I know you want to eat, but it will take at least another half hour before I've got it ready," Ron's mother said. "Wouldn't it be better if you spent time on your homework upstairs?"

Ron sighed and looked at the pile of homework that was still mostly undone. "I guess, but what if I don't hear you calling when dinner is ready?"

"I'll come up to tell you when dinner is ready," his mother replied with a grin, but she quickly turned serious. "And if I see that you haven't finished at least half of that pile, dinner can wait."

Ron gulped and ran upstairs. Mrs. Stoppable shook her head. Her son had the mind to get good grades, but his motivation was often nowhere to be found.

* * *

January passed uneventfully with only two big missions for Team Possible. Five others were considered minor, despite what Drakken thought of his plans – if they did not interfere with school, extracurricular or dating time, they were 'no big' for Team Possible.

As February arrived, Kim noticed that Monique was dating more frequently, and with several boys she previously claimed to be not up to her scale. That may have sounded shallow of Monique, but since at least one of them considered drive-through takeout date-worthy, it was fair to forgive Monique on that assessment.

Of course, this also gave Kim some expectations of her own, seeing as this would become her first Valentine's Day with a boyfriend. Up until now, her timing with boyfriends had been pretty unfortunate.

As it turned out, Ron was not a big fan of Valentine's Day due to his track record regarding dating, but that was quickly resolved when Kim reminded him of their relation.

While part of her was tweaked that Ron had forgotten about Valentine's, another part of Kim was delighted at how excited Ron seemed about actually having a girlfriend on Valentine's Day.

Eventually, Wade beginning to get feelings for Monique and Ron helping him out in his own mysterious ways increased the overall weirdness. But then Ron and Wade claimed a huge mission was coming up concerning the Eiffel Tower. And since Ron was already at the scene – something that weirded Kim out more than she was willing to admit – he urged her to bring Monique as backup.

* * *

Monique frowned thoughtfully as she sat across from Kim in the hypersonic aircraft provided by Nakasumi-san. "Ron said it was of great importance that I came along, right?"

Kim nodded. "Yeah, that's what he said."

Monique nodded slowly. "So he wants me, a fashion designer, to go with you to Paris, one of the fashion capitals of the world?"

Kim looked down, knowing exactly where this was leading. "Well… technically Paris is the City of Lights, right? And Ron said the Eiffel Tower was in danger…"

"AND YOU'RE WEARING YOUR OLD MISSION CLOTHES?"

Kim gulped. "Well… uhm…"

Monique crossed her arms over her chest. "It's one thing that you swoop me off on Valentine's Day, but refusing to wear the design I made…"

"You didn't have plans, right? To…" Kim winced when she noticed Monique's glare. "B-but technically you didn't design…"

"Keep digging that hole girl," Monique said with an angry frown.

"Look, I'm sorry," Kim said truthfully. "I love the new mission outfit. But, uhm… there was a little…" Her last words were too soft to be heard.

"What was that?" Monique asked in a low tone.

"There was a little accident," Kim said, a little louder and clearly embarrassed.

"Tell me," Monique said curiously, her anger already subsiding.

"You know how the fabric needs a special washing cycle, right?" Monique nodded, so Kim continued. "Well, we had a couple of dirty missions lately, so I decided to wash all the outfits I had at the same time."

"Then what happened?" Monique began having trouble keeping her expression firm as she could think of a lot of things that could go wrong when washing Kim's mission outfit.

"The tweebs were pestering me!" Kim said defensively, "They were trying to put one of their weird inventions in the dryer."

"What happened?" Monique asked again.

"I turned the knob for the temperature the wrong way," Kim finally admitted, causing Monique to laugh out loud. "It's not funny! They won't even fit Joss now." This only caused Monique to laugh harder.

"Only you," Monique giggled when she could finally speak again. "So it isn't just cooking?" she teased.

"Haha," Kim mocked. "Anyway, turned out mom had one set she found of my old mission clothes set apart for washing when I pretty much busted the rest in one week last year, so that's what I'm wearing now."

Monique shrugged, still bearing a grin. "At least this one still fits."

* * *

Eventually, Kim did get her Valentine Date. And even though Monique ended up alone, she didn't dare to test the universe again by complaining about it. Wade ended up seeing things from Monique's point of view while he tried to figure a way out of Olivia's hold.

There were a few longer-lasting effects during the aftermath of Valentine's Day.

It took Ron the whole way back from the concert to convince Kim that he didn't hold her love ray induced crush on Senor Senior Junior against her since it was just that, love ray induced. Although for some reason unknown to Kim, he was afraid of her using the love ray against him some day. It was only after Wade explained his ordeal with Olivia that she understood.

"I guess payback is fair game." Monique said with a grin as she overheard Kim and Ron talking about that when they sat in their usual booth at Bueno Nacho. "Wade's still afraid to leave his room?"

Kim chuckled. "A bit. I tried to convince him that Olivia left town already, but he still doesn't take his chances."

Monique shrugged. "Oh well, at least this is over now."

Kim grimaced. "Not entirely. Apparently Bonnie found a picture that was taken during the concert." She showed the picture, which showed her hugging Junior. "And now she thinks I was trying to steal her boyfriend."

"Didn't she date, like, five guys since she met Junior?" Monique inquired with a frown.

"Try telling her that," Kim muttered. "And she doesn't even hold it against Junior, she holds it against me."

"That girl needs some sense kicked into her," Monique said with a dark glare. "I'll happily volunteer for the job."

Kim frowned. "I know you two don't get along that well, but…"

"I had an eye on three of the guys she dated." Monique snapped, "She completely ruined them. How am I supposed to get a date like that?"

"Well…" Kim was at a loss for words. Fortunately, a familiar four-toned chime came to her rescue.

"What's the sitch Wade?"

Wade's face smiled back at her from the Kimmunicator screen. "Are you up for fighting a rogue archeologist in the Amazon jungle?"

"Oh man," Ron groaned, "Monkey Fist is at it again?"

"No, this is a different archeologist," Wade explained, "his name is Steward Candle. He is also known as 'the grave digger' for his frequent disturbing of ancient sacred burial grounds."

"Just how many rogue archeologists are there?" Ron asked, "I mean, all that digging may cause them to snap, but…"

"Have you seen the treasure some of them find," Monique interrupted, her previous anger fit forgotten in favor of a more interesting topic. "I saw it on the Knowledge Channel last night. I'd go down in the dirt for that kind of gold and gems."

"We're on it Wade." Kim said as she tried to contain a chuckle, "Do we need to take the Sloth or do you have transportation ready?"

"There's a plane waiting for you at the Middleton Airport," Wade replied, "and I've got a helicopter ready to take you over the jungle and drop you at the site."

"You rock Wade," Kim said with a smile before she closed the connection. "Monique, sorry we have to cut it short here."

"Just go and kick that guy's butt." Monique said with a wave. "And if you do get to keep some treasure, let me know."

Laughing, Kim and Ron departed and quickly went home to get their mission outfits before they took off to the Amazon.

* * *

"They sure have some modern equipment," Ron remarked when he dodged another pass from Steward, who was driving something that reminded him most of a hover bike.

"Tell me about it," Kim said while battling with one of Steward's helpers, a bulky guy with a heavy stubble. She was about to knock the guy out when the archeologist forced her to dodge again, giving his helper the chance to get on the other hover bike.

"And to think all I did was remove that statue from its socket to look at it closer," Ron commented as the teens started to run away.

Kim smirked. "Not to mention that that caused the entire temple to sink into the ground. Jump!"

The teens jumped off the ledge, grabbed a liana, and started swinging away from the rogue archeologists.

"What's with temples and sinking into the ground anyway?" Ron complained, "What's the use?"

"To protect their treasure," Kim suggested. "I'd say it's working, too bad those two are not really happy with it." Kim pointed behind her where the goons were already gaining.

They were silent for a moment as they tried to keep up their speed by swinging from one liana to another.

"So, uh… KP," Ron asked after a short while, "You know, I was wondering; what are you doing Saturday night? Whoa!" he screamed as he only just managed to swing through a hole in a tree.

* * *

"KP, you don't have to do this," Ron said as he lay on his stomach on the guest room bed in the Possible residence. "I feel just fine."

The teens had just returned from foiling Drakken's latest take over the world plan, where Ron had held his own against Shego for a record time. At least for him, that was.

Kim grinned deviously. "Then get up and walk to the living room."

Ron desperately tried to push himself up from the bed, but his muscles just refused to obey anymore. "Hnnng… Uh… Please KP, don't do this to me."

"If you don't get your muscles flexed soon, you'll be like this for at least the next week," Kim said firmly as she rubbed a good amount of tiger balm between her hands. "Now just toughen up and let me help you."

Ron groaned as he again tried to get up until he slumped down with a soft whimper.

Kim smirked. "There, that's better. Now remember, this pain is good pain, it's your body getting healed…"

* * *

Ron groaned as he carefully tried to get up; the last half hour had been torture. If he had known what information Kim had wanted from him, he would have given it to her.

On the other hand, he was able to move around again, and the dull pain in his back seemed to have dropped to a minimum. Though he would never admit it to his girlfriend, lest she wanted to massage him more often.

Kim had gone to the kitchen to get both of them something to drink and some snacks. Ron hoped that if he could make it to the living room on his own, Kim would not continue what Ron could only describe as her trying to squeeze his muscles out of his skin.

"Here you go," Kim said as she handed Ron his drink, "See, I told you that the massage would work. You're up and about already."

"Yeah…" Ron grimaced. "But I'm still not sure if it's worth the pain."

"How about this?" Kim leaned over and began to gently kiss him, first on his forehead and then working her way down to his lips.

"Booyah," Ron managed to say when the kiss finally ended. "Now that's something that is worth the pain."

* * *

The redhead stepped out of the car and waited patiently for her boyfriend to unbuckle his double safety belts he had managed to put on in the back seat.

"KP… little help here."

Somehow during the ride, Ron had managed to twist his arms in such a way that he couldn't reach the button to unbuckle the seatbelts anymore.

Kim smirked. "I told you that you couldn't pull the seatbelts that far. You pulled them all the way to the end of the roll."

"Funny KP." Ron squirmed again to get free. "What is wrong with these things?"

Kim was about to let Ron try to work himself free for a little while. It served him right; his issues with safety and risk calculation had gone on far too long – but she had an appointment at GJ for one of the courses she was taking and he had his shift at Smarty Mart shortly.

She pushed the unbuckle button and let her boyfriend free. "Don't lock yourself up like that again, okay? Besides, the safety belt doesn't work it it's stretched to its limit."

Ron grinned sheepishly. "Sorry KP."

Kim smiled and gave him a kiss. "Be sure to keep yourself safe at Smarty Mart."

Ron shrugged. "It's a bunch of wild animals in cages in a supermarket. It's completely safe."

Kim couldn't help but snicker at the comment, which she sincerely hoped was sarcasm. "See you later Ron."

**

* * *

A/N:** And that's another chapter down. I hope you liked it. Reviews are always appreciated.


	17. Shocking revelations

Thanks everyone for all the reviews. I hope you will enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter.

**

* * *

Chapter 17: Shocking revelations**

Ron walked through a part of the GJ Middleton headquarters where the gym and other agent training facilities were stationed. It had become a weekly habit for him to pick up Kim from the gym before weapons training.

As a part of the additional training, Kim had been given the assignment of looking over the physical training program for junior agents and making adjustments where necessary. Of course, this also involved writing elaborate reports on why the changes were good, but Kim had turned out to be quite adept at that.

Kim had proven so good that even Dr. Director, who had more than enough paperwork as it were, had caved in and given Kim carte blanche on the training, with the only condition that the training program should show more improvement than the previous program within two months.

When he arrived at the gym, however, Ron found only Kim. The redhead was in a foul mood as she cleared up the last few training mats.

"What's up KP?" Ron asked. "And where is everybody?"

"They snuck out," Kim growled, "I was giving them pointers on defending oneself when visually disabled. You know, like Master Toruka taught us."

Ron did remember the martial arts teacher; he had visited Middleton about two years before on a promotional tour. He and his students had been at the convention center for a week during the program, teaching self-defense for everyone interested. Kim and Ron had also visited – Kim had actually gone there every day – and the teacher had given them some training on counteracting dirty fighting tricks, like when someone threw sand in your eyes.

"You let them fight blindfolded?" Ron asked, remembering Master Toruka's training.

"No, I was blindfolded," Kim said. "I wanted to show them that you can still defend yourself in that sitch. They ran out the moment I put on the blindfold. I must have stood there like an idiot for like, five minutes."

Ron frowned. "You didn't figure it out when they made no move whatsoever?"

"I thought they didn't dare to attack. Although I did find it strange that I heard nothing," Kim admitted.

"Don't you think you're being a bit too tough on the junior agents?" Ron asked.

Kim shrugged. "They should be prepared for what can attack them. Besides, they're grown men."

"Grown men who weep when they see you coming." Kim rolled her eyes at the jab her boyfriend made on her previous coaching reputation.

"They're not training to be marines," Ron empathized, "Most of them will never actually get in the field. And certainly not after what you do to them."

"Maybe you're right," Kim admitted reluctantly. "Am I really such a bad teacher that they run out on me?"

"Maybe bad isn't the word," Ron said, "how about 'tough, but fair'? Really, really tough, but fair."

"Watch it, buster," Kim growled, but she couldn't keep a grin from forming. "Or I'll make you do Master Toruka's routine again."

Ron threw up his hands in defeat. "You win. I give up."

Seeing his girlfriend smile again, Ron put an arm around her shoulder. "Ready for weapons training?"

"Yeah." Even though Kim was still not very fond of using firearms, she found that learning about the various weapons was really fascinating.

Together, the teens walked the short distance to the shooting range.

"Hey KP, have you heard they are installing a new voice-activated system in several classrooms at school right now?"

Kim chuckled at Ron's habit of suddenly changing the subject. "I heard there were plans, but I thought it was just some silly idea to spend way too much money on."

"Yeah, but how awesome will it be?" Ron enthused. "Like, you just say 'lights' and the lights switch on."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Because flipping the light switch is so difficult. Besides, shouldn't we update our AV equipment first? Some of it is on its last legs."

Ron grinned. "We'll talk when you have to walk the entire way from the back of the classroom to the front to flip the switch."

"I'm already dreading the moment," Kim said. "Maybe we should start training for long distance walks, just in case."

"Not anymore, now we can just sit and command the lights."

Kim couldn't help but giggle at Ron's antics.

* * *

"A+ KP! I got an A+!"

"Way to go Ron," Kim said with a proud smile, "You'd never have gotten that with Hego's interview."

"Yeah," Ron admitted, "although Rufus and I had to burn the cape."

Kim smirked. "Really? Burying it was not good enough?"

"He dug it right back up, KP," Ron said, completely missing the joke, making his girlfriend roll her eyes.

"So, your dad is still doing the search and rescue thing?" Kim asked, knowing that Mr. Stoppable had already been politely asked to leave the fire department after his third grease fire in their kitchen. They had, however, offered him a volunteer job for training sessions, claiming that they had never found anyone who could make a grease fire that fast. Clearly they had never seen Kim in the kitchen.

"No, he seems to attract bears," Ron explained. "And he was too good at getting lost himself."

"So it's just back to being an actuarial hero then?" Kim asked with a grin.

Ron chuckled. "Pretty much."

"Are you coming in, or do you have too much homework?" Kim asked as she was about to enter her home.

"Not too much," Ron said, "but then I'd have to wait for my goodbye kiss." He added with a mischievous grin.

Kim's expression matched his. "Oh no, there's got to be a way for us to make out… uh, up for that."

The teens' plan had to be postponed slightly, however, when it turned out that Kim's father was at home.

"Hey dad," Kim said, her smile slightly strained what with her plans thwarted; they only had a few hours before her mother would return from the neuroscience convention, and she would be bringing Jim and Tim home as well. "What are doing here so early?"

"Looking for a new tie," Mr. Dr. Possible explained, "we have a big meeting and I accidentally spilled rocket fuel over my tie."

Kim frowned and looked at the tie. "Doesn't seem stained to me."

"It isn't, but some people smoke during the meeting, and this stuff is pretty flammable."

Kim grinned. "Gotcha."

"Proving once again that smoking is dangerous," Ron quipped. "Oh, and thanks again for lending me the antimatter containment bubble Mr. Dr. P."

"No problem," Kim's father said. "It was just taking up room. Although Jim and Tim may be a bit upset that it got destroyed."

"You know what I still don't get?" Kim said. "How did everything that Ron touched blow up into nothingness, but the ground he touched wasn't affected?"

"Could have been because you kicked the remote out of the Mathter's hand before he could complete the effect," Mr. Dr. Possible suggested; he had heard most of the story when Kim had asked him for something to keep Ron's surroundings safe. "Or maybe the Mathter had designed the effect just to be like that as a sort of revenge."

"Well, at least Ron is out of the bubble now," Kim said with a happy smile as she put her arms around her boyfriend.

"How did you get Ron out of the bubble anyway?" Mr. Dr. Possible asked. "I mean, without the silicon phase disruptor to make the walls permeable to a human being the bubble was pretty much indestructible."

Kim shrugged. "I just used the reverse equation of what the Mathter had put on Ron, and then the bubble just… popped."

James frowned. "So you hit the bubble with an antimatter restoration beam?"

"I guess," Kim said, not fully understanding the jargon.

"And then you turned it on Ron?"

"No, he was good by then." Kim smiled. "I was just very glad that I had him back."

But now Ron frowned as well. "Do you mean the first shot could have only destroyed the bubble, and kept me still like antimatter?"

"Not antimatter," Mr. Dr. Possible pointed out, "or you would have been blown to bits by the air that touched you. But yes, technically everything that you touched could have still evaporated into nothingness."

Kim's eyes grew wide. "So, when I hugged you…"

Seeing both teens suddenly badly shaken, Mr. Dr. Possible thought it best not to point out the danger Kim had put herself in. "The beam from the calculaser was probably powerful enough anyway to destroy both the bubble and get Ron back to normal…" he weakly offered, then looked at his watch uncomfortably. "Oh, look at the time. I have to get to the meeting. You two are going to be okay, right?"

Kim forced a smile. "Yeah. No big dad. Everything turned out okay."

* * *

"Wow…"

"Yeah…"

After Kim's father had left to the space center, Kim and Ron had settled themselves on the living room couch. They were still a bit shocked about the most recent revelation.

Kim sighed. "I should have checked first. But I really missed being that close to you… I missed my Ronshine."

Ron managed a weak grin. "I know, we should have thought of it. But it turned out okay."

"This time," Kim pointed out, "but with all the crazy things the villains do to us…"

She felt the urge to be even closer to Ron, and she snuggled almost into his lap. "I don't want to lose you Ron."

"I don't want to lose you KP." Ron gently kissed her forehead and was rewarded with a kiss on his chin. He then brushed away Kim's beautiful red hair and kissed her just next to her ear.

Soon the exploring kisses turned more heated, but the moment their lips touched, they heard the front door open, followed by Jim and Tim loudly exclaiming that they were home.

Kim let out a frustrated groan. "Just ten more minutes…"

"Ten?" Ron imagined what they could have done in ten more minutes. But then Kim's mother walked into the living room.

Mrs. Dr. Possible smiled knowingly. "Did we get home too soon?"

Kim put up a smile. "It's okay. How was the convention?"

The elder redhead sighed and shook her head. "Not much innovation since last year. Although there is a rumor that some German company is developing a directed conductivity pulse for water containing tissue."

"I'm not even going to pretend to know what that means," Ron said, "what does it do?"

Kim's mother grinned. "If this works, it can be used to let electrical signals pass through tissue that is normally low in conductivity."

"For instance when you have damaged nerves," Kim said, showing she did pay attention when her mother talked about her work during dinner. "This could get the signal past the damaged part. That would be great for some paralyzed people."

"Coolio!" Ron exclaimed. "So that could help Felix, right?"

"Potentially," Mrs. Dr. Possible said carefully. "But it will take a long time before this gets anywhere… if the rumor is true at all."

During the conversation, Kim had slid off Ron's lap, but she still felt low on Ronshine. "Wanna go upstairs to do our homework?" she suggested, hinting so obviously that it made her mother chuckle.

"Better get up quick Ron, Kimmie really needs to get her homework done."

"Mom…" Kim muttered as a blush spread over her face. "Trying to be subtle here."

Her mother laughed. "And I wasn't? Just make sure to do your actual homework as well."

* * *

As Kim and Ron walked up to Kim's room, Jim and Tim watched them from their own room. "You're going to kiss and make out?" they teased, then made kissy noises to emphasize their comment.

Kim thought for a moment of a fitting retort, but then a devious grin spread over her face. "Yeah, that's exactly what we're going to do. See you later Tweebs."

"Eeewww!" they cried. With a disgusted look, the twins swung their door closed.

Kim smiled contently. "What do you know? The truth really works."

* * *

When Kim and Ron finally came downstairs, her mother had already called her three times for dinner. Kim's hair was clearly quickly brushed back into something that somewhat resembled order. And both she and Ron had smiles on their faces that they couldn't seem to wipe off.

"You'd better get home for dinner," Kim said and gave Ron one more goodnight kiss.

After Ron had left, Mrs. Dr. Possible took her daughter aside in the kitchen for a moment. "Did you actually do your homework?"

Kim smiled. "We did. We had sort of a reward game for each time we finished a task."

Kim's mother chuckled. "I can see that motivated both of you… you're not rushing things, are you?"

"No mom, we're fine," Kim said. "So far, that hasn't even come up yet. And even then we won't rush into things. You know us, it took us more than twelve years to even get together as a couple."

The elder redhead laughed. "Okay. Let's get to dinner before the boys go crazy with hunger."

* * *

"I hate to say it Ron, but even though you are pretty good with Hana, you are really bad with most babies," Kim said as the world-saving duo stepped into the Sloth after their rather bizarre sitch with Nanny Nane's babies.

"You got caught by them too," Ron retorted.

"I didn't mean bad at fighting them," Kim explained.

"Well, I never had much practice," Ron admitted, "and Hana is, well… there is something about her."

Kim smiled. "Every baby is special. But yeah, Hana is super special."

"You know, maybe I should take up my parents' request and babysit Hana unsupervised some time," Ron said.

Kim frowned. "Wait, you haven't actually babysat Hana by yourself?"

"Well… no, except for the time that we took her to Dementor's lair on cousin Larry's birthday, she's never been out of my parent's sight for more than one or two hours."

"How about the time when Yori and I went to stop Monkey Fist from obtaining that mystical weapon?"

"Oh yeah… but Hana was a lot smaller then, and moving less… somewhat. And I think mom and dad counted on the fact that you'd be there as well."

"Well then, you should take it up the next chance you get," Kim said.

"But you'll be helping me, right?" Ron asked, suddenly feeling worried.

"Ron, this is part of being a big brother," Kim stated. "You have to do this on your own."

But then she smiled. "I will be ready to help if there really is an emergency though."

"Whew, that's a relief." Ron was unable to hide his anxiety though. "So, I guess when mom and dad want to go out, in like… a month or three, four, I can tell them I will babysit Hana."

Kim shook her head. "No Ron, the moment we get home, you're going to offer your mom and dad to babysit Hana in the near future."

"Yeah, but…"

"No, don't make me make sure you did it," Kim said as she looked straight at Ron before turning her attention back to the road. "Believe me, it will be a great experience."

"Oh well," Ron conceded, "I don't think mom and dad have planned anything in the coming weeks."

* * *

"WHAT! Tomorrow?" Ron stared at his parents in horror, then back at Kim, who only grinned back. "But, but…"

"Ronald," his father said in his usual laidback way, "we really appreciate it that you are willing to babysit Hana now that she is really starting to grow up."

Mrs. Stoppable smiled. "It really shows how you've grown as her big brother."

Ron sighed, but then smiled weakly. "Yeah…" he perked up, "Yeah, I can manage. You go ahead and have fun with your dinner tomorrow."

Kim smiled proudly at her boyfriend. "You will love it."

* * *

All was lost; Sensei had been turned to stone, even Rufus-san and Possible-san were petrified. Even if they managed to defeat the Yono, she would be alone… just like Stoppable-san.

Amongst the destruction of Yamanouchi and the horror that terrorized the school, Yori's mind couldn't help but wander for a brief moment.

They could find comfort in the grief they shared. They could raise Hana together. The bond they shared would grow, and eventually become more…

The ninja turned and looked at Stoppable-san, allowing a new feeling to flood her…

Nothing.

"Yori?" Sensei gently asked as he put his hand on the young ninja's shoulder. "You seem troubled."

Sensei had taken Yori to a location with a bit more privacy. "I…" she began, but paused. Nobody was around. Most of the other students had returned shortly after Kim, Ron and Hana had left and were starting the rebuilding of the school. "I was thinking back to the fight we had with the Yono."

Misunderstanding his student's distress, Sensei gently nudged Yori to sit down. "The Yono is one of the most destructive forces in the world; we could only stall it at our best. The power of the Han was the only thing that could oppose the Yono. You should not feel you did not do enough."

Yori smiled weakly. "I understand Sensei. However, that is not what is troubling me."

Sensei only raised an eyebrow, waiting for Yori to continue.

"Do you remember I had to let go of Stoppable-san so that both he and I could continue on our own paths?"

When Sensei nodded, Yori continued. "When the Yono had defeated us, only he and I remained. And I rekindled the hope that we could be together."

The young ninja sighed. "But when I opened my heart again for the possibility, I found that my heart had moved on. My feelings for Stoppable-san are still strong, but I do not desire him any longer as more than a good friend and a trustworthy ally."

Sensei nodded. "And you are wondering why that did not make you feel relieved?"

"Yes," Yori admitted. "It feels like there is something missing inside me now."

"You realized that your heart is open for love again, and not having that love makes you feel there is a hole. Now that you no longer feel honor-bound to Stoppable-san you will see that there is more love for you than from one single person."

Yori looked up hopefully. "Do you really think so?"

Sensei smiled gently at his uncertain student. "I know so. Just as Stoppable-san's path is joined by one he loves and who loves him, your path will also cross a path that will join yours."

Yori stood up again, but this time a smile was forming on her face. "Thank you Sensei."

Sensei smiled as his student walked away. "_You may find the one you love closer by than you think._"

* * *

BEEB BEEB BEEEB BEEB

"What's the sitch Wade?" Kim asked after she had picked up the Kimmunicator.

"Dementor is at it again," Wade said, "he stole some kind of electrical conductivity device from a research lab in Germany."

"Convenient for him," Kim observed, "what is it with Dementor and electricity anyway?"

"Well, he had a doctorate on Applied Physics and Electronics."

Kim frowned. "Wait, he really is a professor?"

Wade nodded with a grin. "Yep, he still gives guest lectures every now and then in Germany."

Kim shook her head. "Just when I thought it couldn't get any weirder… then again, Shego taught a couple of classes at our school."

Wade smirked. "I bet this professor thing is one of the reasons Dementor and Drakken can't get along."

Kim chuckled. "Okay, where is he holed up this time?"

"In his lair in the Bavarian Alps," Wade said, "I'll have transportation ready in fifteen minutes. And I'll call Ron over."

Kim smiled. "Please and thank you."

* * *

"Whatcha reading KP?" Ron had – outstandingly – already finished his homework, so he didn't have much to do on the trip to Germany. And apparently Kim was deeply involved in one of the books she had to read for her GJ classes.

"It's about leadership and delegating tasks," Kim explained without taking her eyes from the book. "This chapter is about handing over leadership responsibility every now and then to prevent becoming the weak link in an operation… wait 'till I let Will read this one."

Ron grinned. "I'm sure he is familiar with the book."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but does he get it? I mean, it's important that the other members of a team know they won't be overruled on anything, and sometimes a leader needs to see things from a different angle."

"Yeah, but I bet it's difficult to let someone else lead when you're used to the leadership position," Ron said with a playful grin.

"Well, maybe he has to be forced out of his leadership position."

"He?"

"You know…" Kim made an impatient gesture. "But it goes for any leader. Sometimes they have to sit back and let others take the lead."

"But what if they don't see that they have to step back?" Ron asked, grin still in place.

"Then someone has to show them," Kim said. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I don't know," Ron drawled. "Something to do with a pot and a kettle."

Kim frowned. "You think I'm too bossy?"

Ron held up his hands defensively. "Not bossy, but you haven't really handed over the reins either, have you?"

Km shrugged, beginning to feel cornered. "I let you give feedback. And, you know… we're most experienced with this set-up, right?"

"Didn't you say something completely different about Will just now?" Ron asked with a sly grin.

"Maybe…" Kim's seat suddenly felt a lot less comfortable.

"And didn't you say I could take the lead in a mission once, after our first time at Camp Wannaweep?" Ron knew he was pushing it now, but sometimes Kim had to be pushed to see a point.

"Okay! Fine… I get it," Kim muttered, "I'm as bad as Will. GHAAH! It's just like the first time we met up with him, with the Bonnie thing."

"No, I didn't mean it like that…" Ron started, but Kim interrupted him.

"But you're right. What kind of person am I if I don't hold to my own rules?" Kim smiled weakly at Ron. "Sorry."

"No big," Ron joked, using Kim's catchphrase.

"If you want, you can lead this one," Kim said.

Ron suddenly looked a lot less smug. "What? I don't know…"

Kim smiled. "Come on, you're good, I know it. I promise I'll do my best not to interrupt and try to force my own way."

"Well, if you put it that way…" Ron's joke earned him a glare. "Just kidding!"

Kim's smile returned. "You can do it. I'll be the sidekick on this one. You have the shots."

Ron still hesitated, but then Rufus jumped on his shoulder and began to encourage him as well. "Oh fine. I'll try. But if things get too hot, you'll give me a hint, right?"

* * *

When they arrived at the research facility, Kim was about to ask the head scientist what had been stolen when she remembered the agreement she and Ron had. So she looked meaningfully at her boyfriend instead.

It took Ron only a moment to catch on. "Okay, so… what exactly has been stolen?"

The scientist looked at bit uncomfortable. "Well, you see… not so much a device was stolen, but all our research has been taken."

Ron frowned. "Okay… what have you been researching exactly?"

"It's kind of secret at the moment, patent issues and all that," the German said, "but the research involved increasing the conductivity of poorly conductive materials, like tissue."

Ron didn't look much aided by that, so Kim decided to jump in for a moment. "Remember that thing mom and I talked about recently, about possibly curing paralysis?"

"Oh yes, I remember that," Ron said, happy that he was back in the loop.

"Yes, we were doing research on that, but now all the research has been stolen."

"And you didn't have a backup?" Ron asked.

The scientist shuffled his feet. "We just recently acquired the research. We only made a quick publication so that we could hold all the rights."

Kim sighed. "So whom did you get this research from?"

"A disgruntled employee of one of our competitor research institutes helped us obtain the data, but now they've taken it all back."

Ron put the two together surprisingly fast. "So you're saying that Dementor originally developed the research, and you took it from him, and now he stole it back?"

"Yes," came the simple reply.

Kim frowned. "You want us to steal back something? We've been tricked into doing that before, you know."

"Ironically, that involved Dementor as well," Ron pointed out.

Another scientist, who had been standing in the background during the conversation, stepped up. "Well, could you at least prevent Dementor from developing this device? We recently found that, when used in the wrong hands, the mechanism can have a dangerous effect."

"Hans!" The lead scientist scolded, unwilling to spread what he thought as grant-worthy research.

"How bad?" Ron asked.

"It could change a nine-volt battery into a very nasty taser."

"Tasers… bad," Rufus chittered before retreating into Ron's pants pocket; the molerat had had some bad experiences with tasers when Ron had been shocked while Rufus was still in his pocket.

"We'll get that research away from Dementor," Ron promised, suppressing a shudder. "Not tasers again."

* * *

"Should we give the research back to those scientists?" Ron asked as Team Possible made its way to Dementor's lair, which was conveniently close to the research facility.

Kim shrugged. "The research sounds promising, but if people are just going to use it as a weapon I can live without it."

"Well, what's your plan?" The redhead asked when they stood in front of the lair, but still under the cover of some nearby trees.

Ron pondered for a moment. "The air ducts may become too obvious, and Dementor would be the first to figure that out. We usually get into his lairs through the roof, so that leaves the front door as the most surprising entrance."

"For him and for us," Kim pointed out.

"Yes, but we are prepared now," Ron replied with a smug grin.

Kim rolled her eyes. "Maybe you should lay out the plan a bit more."

"Okay… we'll have Wade rig the fire alarm, and when everyone evacuates the lair, we sneak in."

Kim frowned thoughtfully. "That's actually a pretty good idea. It would work better on Drakken since they're used to fires and all that, but Dementor seems to be a bit more strict on the regulations."

Kim handed Ron the Kimmunicator. "It's all yours, mission leader."

Ron grinned and took the device. He then called Wade and explained his plan.

"Good idea Ron," Wade said, "but you might want to take a different hiding spot, since you're standing about ten feet away from their evacuation plan's rendezvous point."

"Gotcha." Kim and Ron moved away to the side of the building while Wade began breaking into Dementor's system.

It didn't take long before the teens could faintly hear the fire alarm, and shortly after several henchmen walked out in an orderly fashion and moved over to the rendezvous point, muttering about fire drills and not getting their break.

Kim smiled at Ron. "You may get to lead more often."

They easily snuck in to the empty lair, their familiarity with the layout working to their advantage, and they quickly found the main room… where Dementor stood waiting with about a dozen henchmen.

"Ah ah ah, Fräulein Possible," the German said with a grin. "You did not think you could get in that easy, did you?"

Dementor glared at the teens from his lookout point. "The moment I heard zhe fire alarm, I knew there was something fishy about it."

Ron slumped down a bit. "So much for my plan."

Kim smiled encouragingly. "It still lowered the number of henchmen."

Dementor grinned. "Really now? Henchmen, attack!"

The henchmen in the room ran toward the teens, but several other doors burst open as well, allowing in the henchmen who had just walked outside.

Kim looked questioningly at Ron, who stared back in shock. "Don't ask for instructions now! Just do what you do best."

Kim grinned as she dodged the first henchman. "I though you still wanted to lead."

"Haha, funny KP," Ron muttered as he did his best to avoid strikes from three henchmen, each of them at least two heads taller than him.

Two hits connected, fortunately not on Ron but on each other, leaving only one henchman standing.

Kim was plowing easily through the henchmen, but she was not making much headway toward Dementor. Although the villain was getting more and more frustrated by his goons' inability to capture the teens.

"Why iz it so hard to capture those teens?" he scolded. "You outnumber them almost twenty to one."

"More like ten to one by now," Kim remarked as she decked another henchman. "Is it me, or is Hench handing out the lower rank buffs these days?"

"Fine, I used a discount," Dementor grumbled. "Do you have ANY idea how expensive henchmen are?"

"I can make a guess," Ron said, finally succeeding in landing a punch of his own. The henchman he hit just grinned as Ron shook his hurting hand.

The grin was short-lived though when Kim knocked him over. "Weak points Ron, you've got to aim for the weak points."

"Easy for you to say," Ron muttered. "You're the one with 16 styles of kung fu."

"Secret Monkey Powers," Kim remarked with a smirk. "When are you going to show those anyway?"

Ron shrugged. "They come and go, I'm not that far yet in the controlling department."

"I noticed," Kim deadpanned. "Better get some use of your mad running away skills then."

"Huh?" Ron had just time to look up and see six henchmen charging at him. "WHAAAH!"

"Well, he's got those skills down," Kim commented to no one in particular as her boyfriend easily stayed ahead of his opponents.

With most of the henchmen down, and the ones who had remained standing wisely sneaking out of the room, Dementor was left to face the teens himself.

"Hand over the research…" Kim started, but then she turned to Ron. "No wait, that's your line today."

Dementor looked confused at the teens as Ron repeated the demand with a bemused grin. "I don't know what you are getting at. But if you want to have it, you can take it."

With a maniacal laugh, the short villain pressed a series of buttons on the console in front of him, resulting in a small rocket forming around him.

"Tschuss, farewell, auf wiedersehn, goodbye!" Professor Dementor shouted as he readied himself to get away. "Too late Fräulein Possible, but you can't catch me."

Kim thought she still had a chance to catch the villain as he seemed to wait for something, and she lunged up to the platform.

Dementor laughed and launched his mini rocket away from the teen heroine.

"This again," Kim muttered as she landed on the platform a split second after the rocket went out of her reach.

"KP!" Ron suddenly yelled. But he was already too late. Dementor had used himself as bait to lure either teen to the platform, and it turned out he had his latest weapon aimed straight at where Kim was standing.

Kim found herself enveloped by a yellowish field and just had time to register a stripped electrical cable held high over her head before the field reached that cable.

Ron could only watch in horror as an arc of electricity traveled through the field and hit Kim.

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah… bit of a cliffhanger here. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	18. Bedrest

Thanks everyone for all the reviews. Sorry it took me a while to get this one up, I hope you will enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter.

**

* * *

Chapter 18: Bedrest**

Kim shrieked when the arc hit her. Fortunately, the field that surrounded her made her sufficiently conductive as to prevent electrical burns, but her entire nerve system went haywire.

In a panicked reflex, Ron shot his grappling gun into the control panel. It died immediately, shutting off the field and effectively blocking the lightning beam again thanks to the normal resistance of air to electricity.

"KP! Are you okay?" he asked as he ran over to Kim.

Kim spasmed a couple of times more before sagging completely to the ground, breathing raggedly.

Much to his relief, Ron found Kim's heartbeat to be normal, if a bit fast. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," Kim whispered. "That was… not so great." Then she slumped down unconscious.

* * *

Kim looked nervously at the woman in front of her, while Ron stood beside her bed and had his hand on her shoulder.

"Two weeks," the woman stated. "At least."

"TWO WEEKS?" Kim yelled, then coughed; her throat was still a bit sore from her scream before. "That's unfair," she managed after her fit, "I got less for worse."

"I'm sorry," the nurse told her. "You might think you are doing quite well, but you've taken some serious damage."

Fairly shortly after Kim had blacked out, she had regained consciousness and managed to get back to their transport with only a little help from Ron.

However, during the ride home, she complained a couple of times that her joints felt weird. Ron didn't take any chances and had her brought to the hospital immediately.

"You suffer from bone decalcification," Kim's mother, who had been called in as well, said. "Too much stress and you can break your bones, not to mention the joint issues you can develop from exerting yourself too much at this point. You are taking bed rest, young lady."

"But mom…" Kim was not yet about to give in. "What about school?"

"I'll make sure you get all the homework so you won't fall behind," Ron immediately offered.

Kim was torn between being angry or grateful at her boyfriend for a moment, but she sighed and gave up. "Okay, fine… you win."

"Good, I'll have a wheelchair brought up for you to get out of the hospital."

Kim groaned at the prospect, but Ron looked questioningly at Mrs. Dr. Possible. "Shouldn't KP stay at the hospital a little longer? I mean, all that was done were some X-ay scans and tissue samples."

"Ron!" Kim growled in a whispering tone. "I don't want to stay here longer."

Kim's mother grinned. "Relax Kimmie. All you need now is bed rest and calcium pills. You'll be back on your feet in no time."

* * *

"Do I really have to lie here all day?" Kim pouted as she sat propped up in her bed. Of course, she knew that in situations like this no amount of pouting would have any effect, but she felt she still had an obligation to go down fighting.

"Of course you won't just be lying there. You have to keep your joints moving sufficiently," her mother said. "But you can't exert too much force on them."

"Okay…" Kim looked questioningly at her mother. "So I just need to flex?"

"More or less. I have arranged physiotherapy for you twice a week. They should explain how you can best move to keep your joints agile."

Kim sighed. "Swell."

"How about videogames?" Ron suggested. "That's a good way to keep your fingers nimble."

Kim frowned, but her mother seemed to find the suggestion not bad at all. "We do have a device at the hospital to help people with rheumatic problems that resembles a modern videogame console…"

"Mom! I'm not going to play videogames," Kim muttered. "Besides, just pushing the buttons works on the games Ron plays."

"But KP, what's the fun of that?" Ron seemed genuinely shocked that his girlfriend deemed playing videogames below just toying with a game console. "You enjoyed some games we played, right?"

"I enjoyed playing games with you," Kim pointed out. "I've never seen the fun of bashing some zombies by myself."

"I'll get the game anyway," Ron said, not willing to give up hope just yet.

Noticing her daughter roll her eyes, Mrs. Dr. Possible smirked. "In any case, I think we can bring the spare television up here."

"Mom!"

* * *

The next day was a Monday and Ron passed by before school. When he came in, she was performing a variety of stretches that he recognized, but she winced at a few of them that she hadn't struggled with in the past. He watched her for a minute before she realized he was there. There was something unreadable in his eyes, but before she could figure it out his expression changed and he smiled.

"Hey Kim," he said, grinning, "How are you holding up?"

"Fine, fine," Kim said, propping herself into a sitting position on her bed.

"I thought I'd check in before school. I'll be back later with today's homework. I promise you won't fall behind, 'kay?"

Kim smiled. "Thank you Ron. Well, at least I can work through the online homework assignments today."

"Just concentrate on getting better, okay?" Ron said.

"I will," Kim promised. "I'll be up and running before you know it."

"But not before your mother approves," Ron added with a grin, earning him a brief scowl from Kim.

But then she grinned back. "You're right. Doctor's orders and such. But don't you dare slack off at school yourself!"

"I won't," Ron said, and then he looked at his watch. "Oh no, I'm going to get late for class!"

Kim chuckled as Ron bolted down the stairs.

A moment later, her mother walked in. "Will you be okay today? I can cancel my shift today, and maybe James can…"

"It'll be okay mom," Kim said, "I promise not to get out and overexert myself. And I'll work through the list of moves you gave me."

"Alright." Anne smiled. "Just be careful with yourself, okay? What happened to you is bad enough as it is."

"Not the first time I've been shocked," Kim remarked, but noticed that wasn't really helping. "I'll be careful."

"Okay then, there's food in the fridge, and you know the drill."

Kim nodded. "One trip every two hours tops, I'll be okay."

Her mother gave her a kiss on her forehead and walked downstairs to get to work.

"Just as long as I don't die of boredom." Kim groaned softly at the prospect of having to lie in bed for almost the entire day.

* * *

When Ron arrived later that day with a pile of homework that Mr. Barkin had readily assigned to him and Kim, he was slightly disturbed at her eagerness to accept the pile of paper.

"Are you feeling okay KP?"

Kim grimaced. "I've been bored! I had all the rest of the homework finished before noon… I really don't like sitting still like this."

Ron gestured at the television set that was placed near Kim's bed. "But what about Zombie Mayhem?"

"Watching your character hitting itself while it's being devoured by zombies isn't the fun they claim it to be."

"And television?"

"172 channels and nothing to watch." Kim sighed. "Daytime TV is horrible if you're not interested in devices that can slice, dice, chop, smear and clean your laundry all at once."

"They what?" Ron questioned.

"It's just a blur of infomercials," Kim explained, rolling her eyes. "They offer so much stuff that you tend to lose track. Then there are the soap operas… I thought Agony County got melodramatic with Charity, Danny, and Ricky, but phew! I ended up preferring the infomercials.

"I see…" A grin started to spread on Ron's face. "So what did you want to buy?"

"Ron!" But Kim's demeanor quickly changed. "Fine, I had my hand on the phone with the 'Guaranteed no burned food easy chef cooking pan.'"

Ron managed to keep a serious face… for about three seconds.

"You-you wanted to buy the… HAHAHA." He roared with laughter while Kim scowled at him and crossed her arms.

"So sue me for wanting to cook a proper meal by myself." It only helped in increasing the laughing fits coming from her boyfriend.

Finally, Ron calmed down a bit. "Sorry KP, it's just…" He hit another laughing fit and couldn't finish.

"Okay, what's so funny?" Kim demanded, really getting tweaked now.

It took Ron a moment to recover sufficiently to be able to speak. "KP, do you remember the last assignment in Home Ec?"

"Yes," Kim said with a questioning look. "I finally had that cake-mixing under control when Mr. Barkin wanted us to prepare a steak meal." It felt redundant to tell the outcome since Ron had been there with her, but it sufficed to say that the school evacuation drills were in pretty good order.

Ron's grin spread out again. "You did that with that great pan you were about to buy. Teehee, you actually did most of your damage to the classroom with a pan that was guaranteed to prevent just that."

Kim was less amused. "So, you're saying I can't even cook with the best equipment?"

"The evidence speaks for itself," Ron quipped, but then he noticed Kim's saddened expression and realized his mirth had gone too far. "Hey, you still do good when there's someone to guide you through the process."

"Yeah," Kim muttered, "and cycling goes great with training wheels."

"Hey! Those babies saved my life many a time!"

Kim smiled weakly. "You know how I hate not being good at something."

"Oh, I do." Ron noticed his girlfriend's expression just too late. "I mean, yeah, I know… I mean…"

"Ron…" Kim put her finger on his lips. "It's okay."

Then she smiled. "I'm just glad to have someone around for a while. It gets really lonely when you've got nothing to do."

"Well, at least tomorrow you have some distraction with physiotherapy," Ron said.

* * *

"Ohmygosh, you _are_ Kim Possible! I knew you were Dr. Possible's daughter, but I didn't know you were _the_ Kim Possible!"

Kim stared at the young physiotherapist, who was apparently still a student herself, and then shot a nervous look at her mother.

Mrs. Dr. Possible smiled. "Kim, this is Trish. Trish is a student at the Boston Institute of Health. She's here on an internship."

"Hi," Kim said and shook the other girl's hand gently. She had already found out the hard way what happened if she moved too wildly or used too much strength during dinner last night.

"I'll be your physiotherapist… well, actually Mrs. Practor will be your physiotherapist… I mean, she will supervise me doing it after she first shows… I sound a bit silly, don't I?"

Kim's mother grinned at her daughter's confused, and slightly disturbed, reaction. "You girls have fun. Gera should be here in a moment. Kimmie, I'll pick you up in about two hours."

"Gera?" Kim asked.

"Mrs. Practor," Trish explained. "Sorry if I came off a bit strong. But I am like, your biggest fan."

Kim put up a smile. "Thanks, I guess."

"I know, you must hear this all the time, being a star like you are," Trish said in apology.

Kim grinned. "You'd be surprised. A lot of people don't recognize me most of the time. And that's one thing I'm glad about."

Trish frowned. "Really?"

"Being famous isn't as great as you may think," Kim explained. "The few times a mission got big enough to attract national attention I literally had to hide from crazy fans."

"Oh…" Trish looked down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… you know…"

Kim smiled. "That's okay. I don't have trouble with the fans. It's the 'crazy' I'm a bit wary about."

"I'm sorry, I'll try to rein in a bit." Trish looked back up at Kim again. "We're good?"

Kim almost had to laugh at the puppy expression from the slightly older girl. "Yeah, we're good."

"So you really had to run away from fans?"

"Believe me, the mission was a piece of cake compared to getting home afterwards."

* * *

"How are you feeling Kimmie?" Kim's mother asked when she drove Kim back home.

"Painful, tired… I thought I had some stamina," Kim complained as she sat sagged down in the passenger seat. "Mrs. Practor really knows how to wear someone out."

Anne smirked. "That's physiotherapy for you."

"I do feel looser though," Kim said, flexing her hand a bit.

"Just be glad that you only have to come twice a week if you keep up with the prescribed program," Kim's mother replied. "I remember the rigorous scheme I had to follow when I twisted my knee."

"Oh yeah, that was one weird time." Kim remembered that two-month sitch quite well, even though it had been almost ten years ago. Her mother had badly twisted her knee when she had slipped on some yogurt spilled on the kitchen floor, and had to spend a lot of time recovering. During that time the Possible siblings had managed to lay waste to a dozen babysitters before the rumor spread and no one applied anymore. Mr. Dr. Possible had to take a leave from work for nearly a month and a half to take care of his family.

* * *

Tired as her body felt, Kim quickly found out that she was not tired at all when she was back in bed. In fact, her mind was still fully awake and she was unable to fall asleep.

"This is just great," she muttered to herself. Her mother had already left again for work, assuming her daughter would fall asleep quickly after enduring this morning session. "Now what do I do?"

Her body felt too sluggish to do anything useful and she was out of reach of anything to otherwise occupy her.

Kim groaned, as the only option she had was right in front of her. "This is worse than being captured by Drakken."

With a sigh she picked up the remote and switched on the television. "Yay… more daytime television."

That afternoon, Kim was starting to feel a bit better now that her body had rested somewhat. Of course, the problem was that she was still not allowed to move about too much.

"At least I can get some homework done now," she muttered. Not that she was behind; in fact, Kim knew that she was still way ahead in most courses, but that was a necessity if she wanted her parents to allow her to keep doing missions.

When Kim was almost done with her homework, she heard someone come up the stairs, but she could tell it wasn't Ron.

When the door opened, Monique stepped in. "Girl, Ron told me a bit of what happened. How are you holding up?"

Kim shrugged. "I'll live. In about two weeks I should be up and running again. Ron didn't come?"

"He's got detention," Monique explained, barely able to keep from laughing. "He managed to cement himself to the floor."

Kim raised her eyebrow. "He what?"

"Some construction workers were casting cement to replace several tiles in front of the school," Monique said, "and Ron though it was funny to leave his hand and foot prints, just like movie stars do."

"Then what happened?" Kim asked, already having a hunch about what could have happened.

"So he stepped in the cement when the workers were taking a break." Monique took a little break to let out some uncontainable giggles. "But he didn't know it was quick-drying cement."

Kim smirked. "So he got his feet stuck?"

"That's not even half of it," Monique continued between laughs. "He then tried to step back, and stepped out of his shoes… right into the other pile of cement."

"Please tell me someone got a picture of that," Kim said, now laughing as well. "I really wish I hadn't missed that."

"And then… HAHAHA… he… HAHA… fell forward, with his knees in his shoes… _snort_… he looked like a midget."

Still rolling with laughter, Monique managed to pull her cell phone out of her pocket to show Kim the picture she had taken. It showed several other students taking pictures, and Ron in the middle, looking like a tiny man and trying to stop everyone from taking pictures.

Kim loved Ron with all her heart, and she would stand beside him no matter what, but at the moment she could only roar with laughter until her entire body hurt all over again.

When the laughing finally died down, Kim was able to feel concerned about her boyfriend again. "They got him out okay, right?"

"Yeah," Monique chuckled, "The workers were pretty upset though, but not as much as Mr. Barkin. Ron is probably going to get detention for the next month."

That was less funny. "Aw… Even more boring alone time then," Kim said and sighed. "Did he say he would pass by later today?"

"Yeah," Monique said. "Although it will probably only be short, seeing as Mr. Barkin told him he could only leave when he did… and there are parent-teacher meetings for the freshman today."

"Oh yeah, I remember." Kim's expression soured a bit more. "So mom and dad will be gone too for the rest of the evening… you don't suppose you could stay a little longer, do you?"

"Sorry, NCD," Monique said. "I've got tons of homework… speaking of which, Ron asked me to give you this." She took a small stack of paper out of her backpack. "This should keep you busy through tonight."

"Yay," Kim cheered with a weak smile, "at least it beats daytime television."

Monique grimaced. "Don't get me started girl. My brother watches it all the time when he gets the chance. I can't see what he finds attractive about that boring junk."

* * *

As it turned out, Ron was able to pass by later that evening for a short while.

Kim grinned. "Hey concrete feet."

Ron grumbled something incomprehensible, making Kim chuckle.

"Well, I hope you learned your lesson."

"At least I left my mark on the school."

Kim giggled. "You left your shoes entirely."

A small grin began to form on Ron's face. "You saw one of the pictures, didn't you?"

"For someone who is afraid of garden gnomes, you made a great impression of one," Kim said.

"This one got close to the antimatter bubble sitch," Ron remarked. "At least this I did to myself."

Kim frowned. "That makes it less embarrassing?"

Ron shrugged. "Kind of. This I had some control over… I could have control over it." He added after another frown from Kim.

Kim chuckled. "Better remember that the next time you see a patch of drying cement."

Eventually, Ron could only stay a short while since he still had to do his homework. He had spent most of his time in detention trying in vain to clean his pants from the cement that had gotten stuck to them.

"I'll stay longer tomorrow, okay?"

Kim smiled weakly. "Yeah. I can manage to wait that long."

* * *

However, the next day, when Ron stepped into Kim's room, he saw her idly playing with the game controller and he heard the distinct sound of Zombie Mayhem IV.

Noticing his expression, Kim immediately got defensive. "I was really bored, okay?"

"Sure, no problem KP," Ron said happily as he quickly plugged in a second controller and scooted next to Kim on her bed.

Missing her amused look, Ron quickly moved through the menus. "So, you finally got some practice to play with the Ron-man?"

"Well… about that…"

By that time, Ron had arrived at the high score section. But instead of his and occasionally Felix's names, it was now only a row of 'KP.'

"B-b-b-b-b-but… I… eeee…" Ron stammered as his jaw nearly unhinged.

"I was really, really bored," Kim said. "And it turned out there was a tutorial. And well… I got good."

"That's… great, KP." Ron's expression said otherwise; not surprising since it had taken him ages to work Felix off the score list, and even that had been only partially successful.

Kim was starting to feel real sorry for Ron; she had really crushed him by beating his scores. "I'm sorry Ron, wanna play a couple of team games to make it up?"

Ron sighed deeply. "Yeah… I think that would be best."

His mood got a lot better after a couple of games. "So now cooking is the only thing that you can't claim to be good at?"

Kim smirked. "If you had properly explained the controls I wouldn't have had this problem to begin with."

"I explained them well enough," Ron remarked with a grin.

"Yeah, right." Kim rolled her eyes. "You explained to me how to jump and slash, but you didn't mention any combos." To prove her point she pressed a rapid succession of buttons and made her character slash ten zombies in one blow.

Ron's eyes widened. "How did you do that? I saw Felix do that move but he never wanted to tell me how he did it."

Kim smirked. "It's all in the tutorial. Didn't you do that when you first got the game?"

Ron shrugged. "Tutorials are like manuals, who needs them?"

"Well, you do if you want to learn the combos."

"Aw, come on KP, that tutorial takes ages. Can't you just tell me the move."

Kim grinned. "Fine." And she performed the series of button presses again, somewhat slower. "You know, this actually works very well on my fingers. They feel a lot less stiff than they did yesterday."

"Uh-huh," Ron said distractedly as he tried to repeat the move, earning him a slight scowl from his girlfriend.

But then he turned toward her and smiled. "Just make sure to heal up quickly, and then we'll teach you cooking as well."

Kim grinned. "Oh well, weirder things have happened."

* * *

"Monkey."

"Beaver."

Kim's mother walked into her daughter's bedroom with a bemused grin and looked at the teens sitting on Kim's bed. "What are you talking about?"

Kim smiled. "We're comparing the weirdest things that happened to us. I was just saying that being turned into a monkey is a sure winner."

"Nuh-uh," Ron objected, "a mutant beaver is far weirder."

Kim shrugged. "That lake was prone to mutate everything anyway. Just look at Gill. I was the first in centuries to be changed into a monkey by that amulet."

"How about the time the two of you switched minds," Mrs. Dr. Possible suggested.

"That happened to both of us, so that's equal," Kim explained.

"But I also switched with Rufus for a moment," Ron pointed out.

Kim's mother shook her head. "And to you it's nothing more than a contest… Anyway, I've brought you something to drink."

Kim smiled. "Thanks mom… hey, what about that exploding nano-tick?"

"Doesn't count," Ron said, "we've been attached to explosives other times. This was just the smallest one."

Anne shivered slightly as she went downstairs again, softly muttering to herself. "And yet they worry when their teacher is being moody…"

"Okay… how about the time Drakken poured that powder on me that made me disappear when I blushed?" Kim asked.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "You mean the time that you went out and risked for once actually dying of embarrassment just to date Josh?"

Kim looked down, embarrassed. "Okay, bad one since I did it to myself… how about I pull that one out of the contest and we won't mention it anymore?"

Ron smirked. "Works for me."

Kim smiled. "Okay, your turn."

"Mystical Monkey Powers," Ron said.

"That only rarely work," Kim retorted.

"I have them. That's what matters," Ron replied with a smug grin.

Kim couldn't help a grin as well. "Okay, you win that one as well… I got it, the moodulator!"

Ron cocked his head. "Well, was that weirder for you or for me?"

"It happened to me, so I get the points," Kim stated. "But in all honesty, I think it was weirdest for Drakken."

"Fair enough," Ron conceded, "let's see if I can beat that… I changed into a hungry mutant monster."

"Which you did to yourself," Kim pointed out. "Only the turning yellow and growing huge was due to HenchCo's goo."

"Well, then you can't claim the Centurion project," Ron grumbled, "however cool that was."

"Wasn't going to," Kim said, "Besides, the super suit has several items that are equal to those of the Centurion project. But how about the time I was mind-controlled?"

Ron's face darkened a bit. "That might be a winner. That was really not a nice trick by Drakken."

Kim shrugged. "I could have gotten off a lot worse there. But yeah, it wasn't fun."

Then she perked up. "Hey, what about me getting Hego's powers?"

"Those were more really cool than weird, won't you say?"

"Well, the power transfer was weird," Kim said. "Come to think of it, most of Team Go's villains are pretty weird."

Ron grinned. "Makes ours pale in comparison a bit. I mean, the only competent one was Electronique, but she's no longer a villain anymore."

Thinking back to Electronique inevitably brought up the memory of the return of Zorpox, and both teens got a bit quiet.

Ron decided to cheer the mood back up. "Okay… what was the weirdest thing that happened to both of us together?"

"The mind flip," Kim stated, "not even a challenge."

"Yeah… that pretty much hit the top," Ron agreed, "good thing it didn't last so long that we had to start thinking about personal hygiene too much."

"We even stretched that out to the max," Kim pointed out. "It's only because you had already seen me in my underwear when we had to dress for missions in tight spots or we would have had a whole different problem. I don't mind you ogling me, but I prefer to be there when you do it."

"What? I never… what?" Ron said, suddenly panicked.

Kim grinned. "Come on, you really think I never saw that… _we_ never saw that? The whole cheer squad knew exactly when you were looking at whom. Tara still thinks it's a shame that you've only got your eyes set on me since Junior Prom."

"No, I didn't… nooo…" Ron started to shrink away from Kim, who was clearly enjoying making him sweat.

"It's okay Ron. You're a guy; you look at girls. Do you think we don't look at cute guys?"

"Yeah, but…"

Kim smiled. "It's okay when you look. I know where your heart is. Just be sure not to act on it."

"Of course!" Ron almost seemed offended. "But really? I can look all I want?"

Kim smirked. "Careful there, buster."

Ron smiled. "You're the girl to look at anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Aw… that's one of the sweetest things you ever said to me." Kim said, and gave Ron a soft kiss on his forehead.

* * *

"Hey Trish," Kim said as she entered the physiotherapist room.

"Hey Kim," Trish greeted her happily, but Kim was glad to see the obsessive glee had worn off. "You're ready for the next session?"

Kim grimaced. "As ready as I'll ever be. At least it can't be worse than the full body scan I had earlier today. Mom has her way to make really sure that I sustained no nerve damage."

Trish smiled. "Well, that's good… I'll try not to be too hard on you."

"Today it's your turn?" Kim asked; the last time Gera had mainly seemed to show her student how it was done. Kim was not entirely sure whether she preferred rough professionalism or a more gentle but also less experienced approach when her limbs were going to be twisted in ways she couldn't imagine were good for her. Of course, Gera had already proven herself when Kim noticed a lot more freedom in movement the day after.

"Yes," Trish said, "Today I am going to give it a try. But don't worry, now it's mainly keeping your joints in good order instead of almost having to break them free."

Kim smirked. "I'm looking forward to it."

* * *

"Not worth it," Kim groaned on the way back home. "I thought physiotherapists were different from chiropractors."

"They are," her mother pointed out, "but there is some overlap."

"And that's where I'm caught. Couldn't this have gone by with just taking it easy?"

"No. The bone recovery is also affecting the cartilage tissue between your joints. Not moving them properly can lead to several forms of arthritis."

"If it had to be like this, I would have reconsidered getting shocked like that," Kim quipped.

"Kimmie!"

"Sorry mom, but these things happen to us." Kim looked at her mother. "If we don't get by with a dose of humor, we don't get by."

"You know I would rather you didn't 'get by,' the missions I mean," Mrs. Dr. Possible said. "All the talk I overheard from you and Ron yesterday made me realize how easily we could have lost you."

Kim sighed. "I know. But if we don't pick it up, who will? I mean, maybe someone else will go after the villains but well… I don't want to brag, but I haven't seen many take them out as well as us."

"I know Kimmie, and I also know that your dad and I did as much as we could to give you a proper sense of altruism. But seeing you get hurt makes me almost hope you forget about all those lessons."

Kim gave a weak smile. "You know it's in me; I can't say no and I can't refuse helping other people."

"I know sweetie." Kim's mother stopped the car in the driveway and gave her daughter a tight but tender hug. "Just make sure we don't lose you, okay?"

* * *

"So, I hear you've been beating Ron at his own game lately?"

Kim grinned at Felix from her spot in the lazy chair in the living room. Although Friday night was usually Kim and Ron's night, Kim went occasionally on a shopping spree with Monique while Ron and Felix spent the whole night with a variety of videogames.

However, Monique was out of town, and Kim was not going anywhere. But Felix had decided to pass by anyway. It was also a good excuse to do a little studying for a test in their advanced course in Spanish.

"Shhh, Ron might hear and get all upset again."

"Don't worry, I can't hear you," came Ron's voice from the kitchen where he was getting drinks. "And I'm actually proud that I've taught KP to be good at videogames."

Felix chuckled. "So the student has defeated the master?"

Kim laughed. "It looks like it."

"We're out of sodas," Ron announced.

"I think there are a couple of bottles in the garage," Kim said. "Make sure they're sealed closed, or you might be serving us rocket fuel."

Felix just shook his head at that. "So, are you going to play with us too?"

"I guess so," Kim said.

Felix frowned. "You beat all of Ron's scores, and even a couple of mine, and now you don't like it anymore?"

Kim shrugged. "My competitive nature played up, after I beat one, I just had to take the rest out as well."

"You'll like playing a game with the three of us," Felix said encouragingly. "The only other time we did that, that Drakken guy showed up and stole my wheelchair."

Kim grinned. "Yeah, Drakken sure turned a strange color when he got sick of the 'sensitivity' treatment we gave him." Looking at Felix's smile, Kim made a decision. "Okay, I'll play with you. It beats sitting here and watching you two play. GHAAH, I really hate not being able to do whatever I want."

Felix looked at Kim with a bemused grin and counted backwards in his head. "_5… 4… 3…"_

Kim turned pale. "Ohmygosh, what am I saying? Felix, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…" She slammed her forehead a couple of times. "Stupid Kim! Stupid! Stupid!"

Felix couldn't hold it in anymore; he burst out in laughter. "You should have seen your face. I would have paid to get a picture of that."

Kim looked up, a bit confused. "You're not upset? Because…"

"Kim," he interrupted her. "It's okay. You didn't mean what you said in a hurtful way, and I'm not intending to weigh every comment to see whether I should feel insulted."

"But still, I should have thought before I said that," Kim insisted. "I mean, after all I will be up and running in one or two weeks."

"Believe me, it's okay," Felix said. "What I don't understand is how you can remain mostly unharmed after receiving a shock like that."

"That had to do with the resistance negating field Dementor developed," Kim said and briefly explained the mission to Felix.

"We eventually decided to give the research back to the German scientists," Kim said in conclusion. "But we also gave a copy to their American counterparts so that they can't gain ridiculously high profits with their stolen research."

"Wow. My mom told me about this research when it was first reported on." Felix smiled. "If she's not working on robotics, she is searching the medical journals for cures for paraplegics."

"She's really dedicated to that, isn't she?'

Felix nodded. "Mom thinks I don't know about the research, and I tend to keep it that way. But she's still blaming herself for the accident, no matter how many times I try to talk her out of it."

"If you want, I still have a copy of the research on the Kimmunicator," Kim offered.

"That would be great," Felix said, "it may or may not be helpful, but I know this will mean a lot to mom."

Kim smiled. "And to think it's all because of Ron."

"Why is…" Felix started, but was interrupted by loud clattering from the kitchen.

"Everything okay?' Kim called out.

"Y-yeah," Ron responded in a shaky voice from behind the closed door, "I just dropped the tray with drinks… I'll get some new sodas after I clean this up."

"Be careful sweetie," Kim said, "don't get yourself hurt."

She turned back to Felix. "Ron wanted to be the leader that day, and he deserved it and did a great job… Too bad Dementor caught us anyway. But in the end he was the one who remembered to download the data from Dementor's computer. I had totally forgotten that."

A short time later, Ron walked back in with a tray of drinks and some snacks. He still looked shaken.

"Don't worry about the glasses Ron," Kim said. "Mom has more than enough spares… she has to with the tweebs around." She looked into the kitchen. "But thanks for cleaning up the glass. I wouldn't want to add glass in my feet to the list of injuries. Wanna play a game of three-way Zombie Mayhem?"

For some reason, Ron performed terribly during their game.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you liked it. I know there is still a bit of a cliffhanger there, but not as bad as the last, right? I hope to get the next chapter up before too long.

On a different note, with this chapter the story has broken the 100K mark, which is one of the goals I set for myself as a writer. I know, the are lot of bigger stories out there, but I'm still pretty proud of it.


	19. Approaching Graduation

Thanks everyone for all the reviews. I hope you will enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter and offering some great suggestions.

**

* * *

Chapter 19: Approaching Graduation**

"Okay Ron, what's wrong?" Kim demanded after Felix had left later that night. "You've been acting distracted throughout the evening, and I've never seen you play so terribly."

Ron sighed. "I overheard you and Felix. I know that it was my fault that you got hurt, and although I appreciate that you don't say it to my face, I… you can tell me if you don't want me around on missions anymore… or around at all."

"What?" Kim was having a bit of trouble putting Ron's words together. "_What?_ Ron, we've been over this! I can't do the missions without you. And even if I could, if I had to choose between missions and you, I'd choose you. Without a doubt."

She then continued, "Besides, I was telling Felix that it was thanks to you that we got Dementor's data. You were the hero in that mission Ron."

"Yeah, but…"

"No! So we almost got caught. It happens. Dementor outsmarted us. That doesn't mean your plan was bad. Didn't you see how his henchmen stood waiting close to the ventilation shafts? He had been expecting my usual entry as well." Small tears of frustration shimmered in the corners of Kim's eyes. "Ron, don't ever think I would ditch you even if it were your fault that a mission went wrong. After all I've done to you I should be thanking you for not ditching me."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, confused.

"What I mean? Ron, I've been lying to you, kicking you away for hotties, harshed on you for no good reason, I only thanked you for saving my life during that blush sitch days afterwards. I dragged you with me on missions, or park cleanings. I always took you for granted, took our friendship for granted." Kim continued her rant, tears now streaming down her face. "I didn't even answer the Kimmunicator the two times you really needed me to because I was too engrossed with a guy to think maybe the call might be important."

"I hardly ever listened to your advice… and I never even told you what happened when you went to Paris with your parents."

Ron had already pulled Kim into a big hug as she poured out her soul. "KP, you always stood up for me; you were my true friend through thick and thin…" He repeated this as he patted her back, but this last comment had him pause. "What does Paris have to do with it?"

"Some friend I am." Kim sobbed as she let Ron rock her gently. "I couldn't even care for Rufus for one lousy weekend, and I completely hid that from you."

"It's okay," Ron comforted, "Rufus is fine, he was also fine when you gave him back to me." On cue, Rufus popped out of Ron's pocket and give a thumbs up.

"Rufus acted fine," Kim sniffed, "because I asked him to. The poor guy had the scare of his life that weekend."

"You really don't…" Ron started.

"Yes I do," Kim said. "During that weekend, Rufus accidentally ate that chip we obtained from the sunken ship, you know, that thing that turned out to be a stupid music chip. And Shego, Monkey Fist and Duff Killigan tried to steal him. We went all the way across Europe during that sitch…we even got to Paris."

Kim looked Ron in the eye, her own eyes big and watery. "I saw you there. You were just getting a picture taken when we flew past while fighting Killigan on his parachute."

"Well I…"

"And you know why you never saw that?" Kim continued. "Because I spent two favors getting into the photo shop and stealing the negatives. I had Wade erase me from the pictures before I put them back and I made him promise to never tell… So there." Kim pushed her head into Ron's shoulder and continued crying silently.

"KP," Ron said softly with a warm voice. "I knew."

Kim looked up. "You-you knew?"

"Yes." Ron's warm smile never left his face. "And I don't care."

"B-but how?"

"We had some pictures already developed in Paris," Ron explained, "but the one-hour shop there didn't do a very good job so we had new ones made when we returned."

"I was a bit surprised to see you in that picture," Ron admitted as he watched Kim's crestfallen expression. "But I figured you had your reasons. And when I showed Rufus the picture with you on it he told me everything."

Rufus looked apologetically at Kim, but she only stared at Ron.

"And you weren't mad at me?" Kim's eyes started to water up again. "After all the other things I've done to you?"

"It's cool. How _could_ I be mad at you?" Ron pulled Kim closer until her beautiful red mane was next to his face. "You're my everything, always been."

They sat silently for a long time, savoring the hug.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" Kim whispered from the nook in Ron's shoulder.

"You stayed with me," Ron replied softly. "No matter what, even those so-called hotties couldn't come between our friendship completely."

Kim pulled back a bit to face Ron. "I love you."

Ron smiled. "I love you too."

They closed their eyes and their lips met in a gentle but emotional kiss that lasted several moments before they slowly pulled apart.

They remained huddled close together. Suddenly, Kim had to stifle a giggle.

"What is it?" Ron asked curiously.

"You know, everybody always thinks that we're either perfect together or, if they don't know us, completely incompatible," Kim said, "but they never see moments like this."

Ron smiled. "Do you think it will change their minds?"

"I don't know," Kim admitted, "I just though it was funny."

"Funny haha, or funny weird?"

Kim chuckled. "Just funny. I need a little moment to recompose my emotions." She then snuggled deeper into Ron's embrace.

Kim's parents found them like that, deep asleep, several hours later when they returned home.

* * *

"Mom, I feel fine, even Mrs. Practor said I was as good as fully healed."

"I'm sorry Kim, but two weeks' rest is two weeks' rest."

Kim pouted and tried to come up with the most convincing tactic. "But I've always healed rapidly, and the second week is already halfway over."

When her mother smirked, Kim knew she had trapped herself. "Well then, another few days wouldn't be that bad, would they?"

Kim looked down dejected. "No… I guess not."

"Besides, we already let you move around more."

Kim knew when she was defeated. "Okay fine… you win. But I am getting so bored sitting around here all day. I even offered dad to help filling in his taxes, but he wouldn't let me."

"I understand sweetie, but you've just got to hang in there."

Kim smiled weakly. "You're right, I'll get through it." She looked at the wall where she had marked the amount of days left before she would officially be called healthy, if the doctor agreed as well. But seeing as the doctor was her mother in this case, Kim was sure that would work out.

Between her parents working during the day and Ron still having detention, Kim's life had become very boring over the past week and a half.

"Just three more days," Kim muttered as she crossed out the Thursday marking on her calendar. As far as she was concerned, she was healthy again.

* * *

Physiotherapy had been a breeze that morning; it had mainly consisted of Kim performing all the prescribed exercises. She had talked some with Trish and questioned the girl on college life; the med student had assured her that it was by far not as crazy as the movies made it out to be. "In fact, most of the time it is similar to high school… you'll just have a lot more freedom," Trish had said, "And you really don't have to worry about other students plotting against you to try to take your boyfriend away."

Kim had paled a bit. "I-I never said anything like that. What made you think…?"

Trish had burst out in laughter. "I wasn't talking about you. I had those thoughts myself. I hooked up with a guy in the summer before going to college, and I was certain that some students were out to take him away from me."

Kim had started to blush. "Yeah, that makes more sense."

"You had those worries?" Trish had inquired.

"It's not that I don't trust Ron, but the thought of people trying to make our lives miserable just to make us comply to their version of a student's life…" Kim had explained about Bonnie a bit.

As it turned out, Bonnie-like personae were not uncommon and Trish had shared some of her own stories with people just as bad as or even worse than Bonnie.

Kim was glad that Trish had overcome her slightly disturbing enthusiasm about Kim Possible and she had invited Trish over. Unfortunately Trish had been swamped in work, as she had to finish a lot of paperwork for her internship. So this Thursday afternoon turned into another boring, lonely day for Kim.

* * *

So it was no surprise that when the phone rang, Kim was very eager to answer the call.

Unfortunately, the phone in her bedroom was gone for some reason. Actually, it was downstairs because Kim had been chatting with Monique the previous evening and had brought the phone down but forgot to take it back up again.

"Where is it?" Kim went downstairs in a hurry, momentarily disregarding the injuries she probably still had in some way.

However, by the time Kim had gotten downstairs, jumping the last few steps in one leap, the phone had stopped ringing.

Kim sighed and sat down on the couch; the voicemail had beaten her and not many people left a message. Most of them just called back later.

But the moment she touched the couch, Kim cried out and tears of pain shot out of her eyes. Her right knee felt like it was on fire.

Even the tiniest movement felt like someone was scraping a rasp over the inside of her knee.

Hands shaking, Kim reached for the phone to call for someone to take her to the hospital.

* * *

"You're lucky. The damage isn't too extensive," the doctor said, "you'll just have to wear this knee brace for the next week or two.

Kim smiled wryly. "I'm just glad there isn't much cheerleading for the rest of the year."

Now that she had some painkillers, Kim was starting to feel better. But the prospect of an almost certain lecture from her mom made her wish she were still in bed.

"Kim, you know you shouldn't run down the stairs like that, even if you were in perfect health."

Kim shrunk back further in the passenger seat.

"And you can let a phone ring; if it's important, they'll call back."

Kim was starting to get the feeling that if she shrunk more, she would slip out of the seatbelt. "I know mom."

"The doctor gave you the rest time for a reason," Mrs. Dr. Possible said. "And even if I think that two weeks is too few, it was the minimum you had to take."

"I know!" Kim cried out, tears running from her eyes. "What do you want me to say? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it, I forgot. And I was so fed up with doing nothing for so long." She sobbed quietly as she tried to fight back more tears.

"Kimmie…" her mother's voice was a lot softer now. "You know I'm not angry with you, right? I'm just a bit upset. I've seen the damage to your knee, and it could have been a lot worse. So please… for my sake, will you take enough rest to heal up completely? If you want I can take up some vacation days and keep you company at home."

Kim smiled weakly. "Thanks, but I think I can manage for a short while. Besides, I'd rather have you save those vacation days for when we can all go on vacation."

* * *

Despite her knee still being in need of a brace, Kim was declared healthy enough to go to school that Monday, although she was not allowed to participate in any overly strenuous activities.

"Hey K," Bonnie took a look at Kim's slightly bent knee and the crutch she held. "Seems like you won't be doing much cheerleading practice for some time to come?"

Kim bit back a nasty comment and forced a smile. "Yeah. I hope Tara is willing to be the impromptu captain for a while longer… at least you have no problems with the junior squad, right?"

Bonnie mulled that over for a moment, and then she shrugged. "At least we don't have anything important coming up."

"Was that just a compliment?" Monique asked as the brunette walked away from them.

Kim chuckled. "I think it was. Who knew?"

* * *

Within two weeks, Kim's knee healed up fully and, after a few days of remaining stiffness, Kim was fully back on her feet and eager to restore and exceed her level of stamina, agility and strength.

"You are way too competitive," Ron whined as they sparred in the backyard of Kim's home. Even though he was having it a bit more easy since Kim was not entirely back to her old self, it was still tough going.

"Come on, three sparring sessions a week is not pushing it," Kim said, gesturing Ron to attack again, or she would. "You're only one behind… best of five."

Reluctantly, Ron circled his girlfriend, looking for a weakness in her defense. "I'm sure you will be able to beat Nana best of three again by now."

Kim grinned. "You can never be too prepared." In about a month, when she and Ron would graduate, Nana would come over as well. And it was a certainty that a match would occur. The last time the Possible family had visited Nana, Kim had won the best of three match, and barely won the resulting best of five match. Kim was sure that her grandmother would not let that go past, and the elder Possible was not below using Kim's time-out to her advantage. Nana could be the nicest grandmother, but when provoked her commando training shone through.

"Don't let her pull the wool over your eyes," Ron quipped, "or, for that matter, a new sweater."

Kim rolled her eyes. "I will not wear a wool sweater in the summer during the graduation par… OOMPHH!"

Ron had cleverly used her momentary distraction to pounce her. But now he was sitting on top of a very tweaked redhead who had not yet lost the fight.

Pinned to the ground, but slightly twisted so that only one of her shoulder blades touched the floor, Kim tried to struggle out of Ron's hold. For his part, Ron had the option of 'officially' winning the match by pinning Kim fully so that both her shoulder blades touched the ground, or he could win 'their' way by stealing a kiss on the tip of her nose. But Kim's current annoyance meant that could well lead to a head butt; like he had said, Kim could become really competitive.

So he went with the easier way and leaned forward, forcing Kim to bear his full weight. She managed for a couple of seconds while her legs kicked uselessly behind Ron.

Finally she gave up and sagged down fully. "You win this one," she panted, "so you still have a shot at victory."

Ron grinned as he got up. "Better not get distracted this time then."

Kim glared; mean tricks were allowed since they couldn't expect villains to play by the rules either, but her pride was still stung. "I'll get you for that, buster."

Eventually, Kim won by making use of Ron's tendency to repeat successful tricks. She let him 'distract' her again, but this time she was prepared and easily tossed him over her head before putting him in a headlock.

"Give up?" Km asked as she tightened her grip.

"Yes please," Ron groaned.

After they got up, he glared at Kim. "You can be mean."

Kim smirked. "Deal with it, and be glad you're not fighting Shego. You'd be a soprano if you ever tried such a trick against her."

Ron grimaced. "Point taken." He dusted himself off. "At least next week we can relax."

Kim smiled. "Yeah, beach-side vacation sponsored by the school. I heard South Beach Bay Harbor is a great place to be in the early summer."

"I'll be sure to get fully prepared then," Ron said.

Kim frowned. "What? Like extra beach gear?"

"Are you kidding? Last time we went to the beach, my radio got busted."

"Because you tried to take it with you when we went surfing."

"Aw, come on. You have to admit that surfing is best with background music, just like in the movies."

Kim smirked. "Until you fall into the water."

"This time I'll take a backup with me," Ron said, and after some thinking he added, "And a backup for my backup, just in case. I will be able to listen to music and watch movies whenever I want during the entire vacation."

* * *

"Dr. D, an underwater lair is bad enough, but why did you have to place it practically under the nose of a village?"

Drakken grinned confidently. "Because Shego, that village happens to be called Port Mystic Cove Haven."

Shego shrugged. "So?"

"Shego! Don't you know anything about history?"

The villainess smirked. "More than you."

"GNNN, Shego!" Drakken snapped. "Port Mystic Cove Haven happens to be an authentic historic town, where the people do their best to maintain the old ways of living."

"Like the Amish?" Shego asked. "Not exactly my idea of fun."

"Be that as it may," Drakken continued, "they certainly don't have ways to detect our presence. And it is out of the route of airplanes. Even military ones don't pass over unless there is an emergency, apparently the mayor of the town has some pull there."

"Fine with me." Shego sat down and began filing her nails. "Princess will come over and destroy your plan anyway."

"Shego!"

"Can't blame the messenger."

But then Drakken grinned. "In fact, I happen to know that Kim Possible will be on a week's vacation, provided by her school as some kind of Senior project. So she won't be bothering us."

Shego frowned. "And you know that how?"

Drakken gestured dismissively. "They do that every year. Didn't you have that in high school?"

Shego scowled. "I was tutored, and I followed college online." She fired up one hand. "Doesn't say, goes along well with other students, does it?"

Drakken gulped. "Point taken. But anyway, the bottom of the sea is the perfect location for my new doom ray."

"GHAAAH!" Shego put her hands to her ears. "Do you have to say that exact same line every time?"

Drakken shrugged. "Well, it is the truth. I will be accepting your apology in a few days when I have conquered the world."

* * *

"I'm so sorry Shego," Drakken whined as he shivered in the open top hovercraft. "Could you please close the shield?"

After what you did to me?" Shego smirked. "Forget it."

"At least tell me what I did," Drakken begged, "I can only remember bits and pieces from the moment I opened the chest to the moment Kim Possible saved me from drowning… why did she save me anyway?"

Shego's expression softened a bit, then she pressed a button and raised the shield to keep the icy wind out.

"Thank you Shego, and thanks for not leaving me again."

"Don't push it blue boy." However, Shego quickly turned away so Drakken couldn't see her expression.

She had gone soft. She had been going soft for the entire year; she had saved Kim on several occasions, claiming to be the one to finally destroy her, but did she really want that? She'd had the opportunity a couple of times.

And now she had begun saving Drakken, not just from certain death, but also from imprisonment. And she couldn't really claim it as being under contract since Drakken still owned her almost half a year worth of salary.

But what was the reason? Why was she feeling and acting so out of character?

The whole way back to the backup lair, Shego pondered this in silence, completely ignoring the fact that Drakken had fallen asleep at her feet and lay there curled up like a baby, occasionally sucking his thumb.

* * *

"Would you sit still?" Kim was doing all she could to pry open the ancient lock of the 'suit of armor' where Ron had locked himself up. The fact that the smithy didn't have that much equipment to pick a lock also hampered her progress.

"Why not use a hammer?" Bonnie suggested. She and Monique were holding the cage so that it didn't move too much while Kim tried to open the lock, which had incidentally been missing a key for just over fifty years.

Mr. Barkin Senior seemed to find that a good idea as well. "I say aye, let us break open the case with a more strong approach."

"This cage is tougher than you might think," Kim said, "you'll probably hurt Ron more than the cage in the process."

"No! I mean, nay," Ron called out, looking very nervous. "Can't Wade use some of his gadgets?"

"He can, and will," Kim replied, "he said he'll be back in four or five hours, depending how long it takes him to bring the horse back."

"Ah consarnit. Don't we have anything better here?"

Monique smirked. "The only modern things here are in the garage. I think I saw an acetylene torch there."

Bonnie grinned as well. "It would be fitting, seeing as what they used to do to people locked in this cage."

"No! No torch… KP, hurry before they get the torch," Ron whined, causing Bonnie and Monique to giggle somewhat cruelly.

"Then sit still," Kim ordered. "Now if I can only get this tumbler to… done." With a proud smile she turned the lock and opened the cage. "You better have learned from this."

Ron slumped to the ground, pretty stiff from being locked up for over an hour in the uncomfortable cage. "Thanks KP."

Kim smiled. "No big. Now let's hope it will take some time before Drakken comes up with a new plan."

* * *

"You've been up for days now! Go get some sleep," Shego said.

Drakken sat hunched over his desk. "No Shego. You know, a couple of nights ago I had an ephi… epi…"

"Epiphany," Shego helpfully suggested.

"Yes! That's what I had," Drakken cried out triumphantly.

"Probably from lack of sleep," Shego muttered under her breath.

Drakken glared at her. "What was that?"

"What was it about?" Shego asked instead.

"Ah, you know I often outsource my brilliant ideas, right?"

The green-skinned villainess smirked. "You mean you have me steal them?"

"Shego! Fine, but it does mean that I have always failed because of the shortcomings of others," Drakken said, "but not this time. This time I will come up with an original idea. And finally I will get the recognition I deserve."

"Fine with me." Shego wandered off and debated between another solar bench session or some time in the hot tub. It could get really cold in the alpine lair.

As she relaxed in the hot tub, Shego remembered that she had completely forgotten to frustrate Drakken with her usual pessimistic line that Kim would bust them anyway.

She shrugged, trying to hide the sudden uncomfortable feeling despite the fact that she was alone. "Must be losing my touch on Dr. D."

But it was not just that. She really felt she was losing her touch. And the worst part was that it didn't bother her as much as it should.

First it was Drakken. She noticed she had gone softer on him ever since the Diablo plot, now almost a year ago.

Sure, she had left him in prison on several occasions. But after Warmonga had freed him and pretty much taken over Shego's spot, she had felt something that could only be described a jealousy. And when Warmonga had left Earth after tossing Drakken out of the lair, Shego had still set out to find the blue villain.

He had been surprisingly unhurt, given what had happened to him, but it had taken him longer than usual to bounce back. In fact, it had taken Hank Perkins to get Drakken really back on his feet.

The underwater lair had been his first big solo effort in a long time, and even that had only taken shape after he had become possessed by the spirit of Black Eye Brown.

And now here he was, trying to set up a new plan, and she hadn't even openly mocked him. It was a somewhat disturbing idea for Shego.

And then there was Kim. For some reason, Shego had saved the girl from potentially lethal situations on several occasions.

First she thought that it could have been because Kim had unconditionally taken her into her home when she had been zapped by the reverse polarizer. Every time she looked at the half-burned picture she got the eerie feeling that it reminded her of something.

But she was still pretty sure that it wasn't that, or that Kim turned out to be a bigger person than she was. Shego was evil and relished in it, lots of people were bigger persons than she was, and probably even some villains were.

Relished in evil…

A brief flashback brought Shego to the foot of the control tower next to the Bueno Nacho headquarters. She had been battered, bruised, amazingly not broken and she had received a shock that would have been lethal if her plasma hadn't given her the ability to divert a current around her body.

But when she had looked up, she had seen Kim standing on the edge of the roof. And during one flash of lightning, Shego had seen Kim grin as she looked out into the storm like a victor.

Back in the here and now, the pieces suddenly fell into place; Kim was her, only a couple of chapters behind, still inherently good but only a couple of life-altering situations away from stepping over the invisible border.

That of course gave rise to the question of whether Shego wanted Kim to remain alive to see her full potential when she completely stopped caring about the amount of damage she did to others, or if she wanted Kim alive to fulfill what she had not been able to do in her days as a hero.

"GHAAH, stupid philosophical junk." Shego forced the thoughts out of her mind, scolding Drakken for buying that series of DVDs by that psychiatric whose name she couldn't remember. "Kimmie's alive because I let her be. She owes me and I can beat her whenever I want."

But somehow those words sounded hollow, even to Shego's own ears.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked it, there will be one more chapter to close off this story. Reviews are always welcome.


	20. Graduation and Beyond

Thanks everyone for all the reviews. I hope you will enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer: **Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.

Thanks to _Slipgate _for beta-reading this chapter and coming up with great suggestions and ideas.

* * *

**Chapter 20: Graduation and beyond**

Drakken's super hypollinator seemed to be working! Giant mutated plants grew out of the floor of the lair… and then the flowers popped up and killed the climax.

Shego had to admit she had been impressed… for a moment. But now it seemed like Drakken's plot was just another idea that could be put in the pile of failed schemes.

But then the blue villain was hit by his own mutagenic agent, and while he laughed ominously, his shape began to change… and then the flowers popped up and killed the climax.

Yep, this plan should definitely be put in the 'failed' pile.

But regardless of the laughs Shego had about Drakken's futile attempts to remove the petals, the villainess began to feel something resembling pity toward her employer, and that was something she was really, really unfamiliar with.

* * *

Kim had to admit, Ron's panic was getting to her. She tried to be logical about it, and even sought confirmation from her mother, but the nagging feeling didn't go away completely.

Sure, she was heading for the stars, or any direction she wanted. The pile of college acceptance letters was so absurdly large that she hadn't even bothered to retort to Bonnie's claim of having so many college acceptance letters. And Kim was sure that Ron's letters would arrive sometime soon.

Only she and Felix had really received a lot of letters, and that probably had a lot to do with their grades. Most of the other students who had already received some acceptance letters had obtained those because of their extracurricular activities. And even though Ron had turned out to be a very good football player, one season was not enough to convince many scouts. Apparently, Mr. Barkin had not explained that well enough to Ron, if his expression at noticing Kim's pile of acceptance letters versus his own lack of those was any indication.

"We're going to find a college that accepts us both," Kim stated out loud, even though there was no one in the room with her. "Or at least colleges that are close together. We've gotten this far together, we can continue on that trail."

But Kim couldn't shake the feeling she got when she thought about taking the next step in the big world and really letting go of the protection of her parents, regardless of how odd that sounded given her past years as a world-saving hero.

It was a weird bag of mixed feelings. On the one hand, Kim was looking forward to the new path in her life, but on the other hand she did feel a lot of anxiety about the future, and that was not even counting Ron's definite role in it.

"Maybe I can put this in the speech," Kim said to herself, hoping to put these feelings to rest by expressing them. Felix had been elected as the top student of the class of 2006, even though he and Kim had scored pretty much equally. The eventual vote had mainly been decided on Felix's significantly lower rate of absence.

However, Felix had not been entirely happy with that, since it only meant that Kim had managed to score near perfect despite not attending almost any class. But when Mr. Barkin made up his mind, he stuck to it and even the real principal couldn't change anything about it… although that might have something to do with the fact that the real principal had already started his vacation and only communicated by telephone.

Either way, Felix had insisted on sharing with Kim and he had asked her to prepare a speech. After some encouragement Kim had agreed, and now she was actually enjoying writing it out.

As she wrote, her pride that she and Ron were really only days away from graduating took over from her doubts and fears for the future and a smile began to form on her lips.

* * *

"Another blackout. Whatever it is, it's global for sure."

Dr. Director was getting more and more frustrated; there were blackouts all over the globe, strange signs all over the world on golf courses that weren't Duff Killigan's doing, and to top it off Kim Possible's graduation had hit the cover stories, so there was an additional risk of attacks during the ceremony. On top of all that besides there was the internal power struggle within Global Justice that was starting to reach critical mass.

Dr. Director knew something was up, but she couldn't put her finger on it. And she was sure that any mistake that GJ would make now could spell disaster for her role in the organization, and that could well lead to the destruction of Global Justice.

Betty rubbed her temples and settled for another night in the office.

* * *

Ron was falling out of the picture; just a few inches and he would be gone. Kim was heading for the stars while he remained stuck to Earth. How long could even the strong cable of their friendship hold a strain like that?

But then the memory of their kiss at Bueno Nacho popped back in.

"If KP is sure we can make it, then so am I… I think."

But then it was time to prepare for graduation and Ron put his focus on getting the graduation robe on. That proved to be a more daunting task than he had expected. Maybe he had written down the wrong size?

* * *

Shego couldn't believe it.

It wasn't the fact that Drakken had been abducted by aliens; that had happened to him before, right after he tried to steal their ship from Area 51.

What Shego couldn't believe was how she felt about it. She was really concerned about the blue villain.

After reducing the alien tripod to scrap metal in a rage that was unfamiliar even for her, Shego contemplated the only thing she could do to get Drakken back.

"Time to repay some favors, Kimmie."

* * *

There were days where Kim just couldn't get a break. This was one of them.

She was finally going to graduate, only to have her speech interrupted by an alien abduction. To say this was annoying was an understatement.

Kim's mood didn't improve much when she found out it was Warmonga and her partner Warhawk, who had decided to get revenge on her and unsurprisingly on Drakken as well. And they planned to take over the world as a bonus.

But now, Kim was ready to make a comeback; Drakken's plants had destroyed the laser after nearly getting her killed, and now she and the blue villain were making their way through the spaceship to find a way to stop it.

Kim smirked inwardly; those aliens would learn that Earth could still pack a couple of punches.

When Ron and, surprisingly, Shego joined the party Kim felt certain that Warmonga and Warhawk would regret having ever visited the blue planet.

* * *

A bizarre stalemate was reached; most of the alien walkers were destroyed because Warhawk had been overly confident and had called them all to his position, making it easy for Drakken to dose every walker with his super hypollinator.

However, Warhawk and Warmonga were still standing and ready to fight, and to make matters worse, their spaceship was still on a crash course for Earth.

Shego had been knocked out, and Ron's overconfident attack on Warhawk had knocked Kim out as well. And with Drakken still busying himself with destroying the last of the walkers, Ron stood alone against the aliens.

"Come Warmonga, we will take this one as a trophy," Warhawk said as he held up Kim's unconscious form, "She will look handsome mounted beside your forgoggle spine."

Apparently, the aliens were still convinced that they could leave Earth whenever they wanted to.

"You are the Monkey Master," a voice suddenly said and a ghostly apparition of Sensei showed up, only visible to Ron.

"I am?" Ron asked, unconvinced.

Sensei only nodded. "This is your destiny. You are ready."

Ron was still not sure, but he felt something rising deep within him. "I am." He locked eyes with the huge alien. "Hey, Warhawk!"

The alien glared at Ron and then tossed Kim aside. Not casually, but with the intent of damaging her even more and possible angering Ron into attacking. And that was the last thing he should have been doing.

Suddenly the depths of Ron's being rose up and he felt a familiar change in his person, a change that he felt only a few times. But this was the first time he voluntarily let it rise and fill him.

"_He should not have done that…_"

Ron faced Warhawk, who balled his fists, and took a fighting stance. Then he jumped forward, somersaulting toward the alien, and kicked him in the chest with all his strength, knocking Warhawk several feet back.

As Warhawk and Warmonga smiled at each other, now slightly more interested in this fight, Ron continued his inward dialogue.

"_Zorpox…"_ It wasn't a question.

"_Who else?_" came the amused reply. "_Are you ready?"_

Ron didn't reply to his alter-ego; instead, he looked at Warhawk and gave him a 'come hither' gesture.

With a feral growl, the young Monkey Master-to-be charged at the experienced alien warrior. He blocked both punches and knocked Warhawk back again.

One look at Kim's prone form was enough to convince Ron. "_I am ready!_" He felt the power inside him rise to levels he had never experienced, not even the time that he had shaken the floor to trap Fukushima. Every kick and punch he landed on Warhawk was now powered by the Mystical Monkey Power

Sensei, still observing the fight by using his own powers, noticed that Ron had finally truly embraced his powers. "His Monkey Power is strong. Booyah…" the sound of Sensei's voice echoed several times as the ghostly image disappeared.

Ron was faster, stronger and more powerful than Warhawk, but the fight was not decided yet; for that, he needed a moment and a little space.

With a single energy shove, Ron slammed Warhawk back toward Warmonga, where the alien landed painfully on his back.

And then the world changed.

* * *

Ron faced Zorpox one more time before they merged as he fully accepted the darker side of his being. And with that, Ron's potential fully unlocked and the Monkey Power roared to the surface.

As monkey screeches filled the air and a red vortex of energy surrounded them, powerful enough to even lift chunks of Lowardian walker into the air, Warhawk and Warmonga looked at each other in confusion.

A monkey-like aura began to shine around Ron, and suddenly the aliens knew what they were facing: The Great Blue.

The aliens suddenly understood and their warrior blood boiled at the chance to fight the most powerful warrior in Lowardian lore.

It wasn't the Great Blue that would lead them to victory! Fighting him would give _them_ victory, and show the galaxy once and for all that Lowardians were invincible.

With a huge grin, the aliens attacked.

Ron knew he had to win. The Mystical Monkey Master knew he would win. But the fight had to be cut short because there was still an alien spaceship heading to a populated area.

A burst of Monkey Power combined with the weight of the two aliens was more than enough to vaporize the spaceship.

Ron knew that not everyone would be pleased with this outcome, but to him it had only positive results; no more people got hurt, no one would gain too much alien technology, and Warhawk and Warmonga were no longer a threat, as they would be if they would have been captured. Ron had seen too many villains escape to trust any prison.

All these thoughts had come naturally to Ron, and it made him realize that nothing had changed; he was still good, and he didn't have to actively fight his dark side. He just had to accept it, but refuse to live by it.

And when that realization set in, Ron allowed the monkey powers to fade; they were no longer needed… for now.

* * *

Kim had seen half of the fight, and her mind was in a complete lock as Ron settled down in front of her.

When he opened his eyes and extended his hand to help her up, Kim noticed that his eyes had their normal brown color again, and his usual easygoing smile was back.

Still in a stupor, Kim allowed Ron to help her up, but even then she stared at him for a moment in utter confusion, and even with a tinge of fear.

Then she got a good look into his eyes and saw that all of her Ron was in there. And in the hug that followed, everything was good again in Kim's world.

* * *

For the aftermath of an alien invasion, Earth had come out surprisingly well. And even though the full damage was not estimated yet, it seemed that only a few cities had gotten badly damaged, and those had lost mostly shopping centers and office buildings.

A super-quick honoration was set up the same day to praise the heroes of the Lowardian invasion, and even though she knew this was mainly to keep morale boosted and that a bigger ceremony was undoubtedly planned for later, Kim was happy to see that all four of them got equal recognition.

When the heroes and villains had walked away from the pile of destroyed walkers, and just before the first people came out of hiding to meet them, Ron took Kim and Shego aside and asked them not to say too much about his part in the fight.

"I don't want to have the wrong people knowing about these powers," Ron had said. Kim had agreed on the condition that he wouldn't try to get the spotlights only on her. After all, Kim had actually played the least important role of the team, being pretty much the person who had to be saved and, unlike Drakken, she hadn't contributed much to the fight.

Ron had told her that she could have taken the Lowardians, but Kim was not so sure about that. "Besides, I could never have stopped that spaceship."

A surprising number of heroes and villains had managed to make it to the honoration. Even though some of them were skeptical about the level of evil that Drakken and Shego had displayed, they were grateful that their hides had been saved. Because of that, they were willing to give the duo the benefit of the doubt, but not without frowning throughout most of the ceremony.

With first the continuation of their graduation, then the honoration, and finally the graduation party, Kim and Ron barely had time to switch to some more comfortable clothing. Kim hadn't even been able to get home that day, much less get a change of clothes. Fortunately, the Sloth had some extra sets of clothes in the trunk for extended missions. But that didn't matter now… she just had one more thing to do.

"Ron," she nudged her boyfriend as they had joined the dance again after playing a couple of rounds of beach volleyball. "Remember what you said about me heading for the stars?"

Ron looked at her curiously, but Kim was glad to see that all his fear in that regard was gone. Ron seemed confident now that they would be able to deal with whatever the future threw at them. And right then, Kim felt certain that they would face the future together, no matter what.

She gripped Ron's hand and pulled him with her. "Come on." she encouraged.

They ran between the other students and jumped into her car just as it turned into a convertible after a quick command from Kim's wrist Kimmunicator.

Kim started the car and they drove off, waved out by most of the student body present.

Once they were airborne, Kim grinned lovingly at Ron. "Told you graduation wasn't the end of the world."

Ron just kissed her; fortunately Kim had just enough presence of mind to switch on the autopilot.

"Let's head for the stars." he replied, once their lips parted.

* * *

With the honoration over, and the damage of the Lowardian invasion still piling up, the mood at the impromptu inter-agency meeting was sinking. The atmosphere was even more apprehensive because Z had joined the meeting in person.

The elderly man, still looking very vital, stalked around in front of the heads of the agencies. "Can anyone tell me why two teenagers and two villains could do what the combined force of all of you was unable to achieve?"

No one answered; that would have meant a certain death, figuratively speaking… hopefully.

Even so, Z seemed to be in a relatively good mood, considering; it might have to do with the fact that Earth survived and that the aliens had been repelled. "I understand that you were all surprised, so I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I'll have a report from all of you about what happened, what went wrong, and how we can prevent it from happening again by tomorrow morning."

Groans were heard all around, and Dr. Director suddenly had the feeling that Z might have been a teacher somewhere in his life. But those thoughts were gone the moment Z aimed his attention at her. "Dr. Director, can I have a word in private with you?"

* * *

After they stepped into a quiet room, Z got to the point immediately. "I've heard some disturbing things about Global Justice."

Betty sighed. "I know, but I can't do anything about it because they remain legal…"

"I was talking about your capacity as Director of Global Justice."

Dr. Director's heart skipped a beat; it couldn't be that Z believed the things that were spread around by the people like Will's parents, who recently seemed to have pulled Will back into their team as well. "Sir, I…"

And then Will Du walked into the room and Betty's heart sank.

Z turned to the agent. "Agent Du, I have examined your statements and they seem solid. It appears Dr. Director can indeed no longer be counted capable of leading Global Justice."

Betty felt like her legs were going to give out. "_No, not now!_"

"Sir, if this is because of the invasion…"

"Global Justice has had trouble for a long time now," the elderly man interrupted, "It is time to have someone in the seat who will not be corrupted."

"But you don't understand, their only goal is…" Betty tried desperately, but she was interrupted again.

"Agent Du, Dr. Director is relieved of duty. As is my prerogative I will lead Global Justice until the new director has taken the seat, which will only take a day or so. Do you, as senior officer of Global Justice, agree?"

Will nodded. "Yes sir. Should I take Dr. Director into custody?"

Dr. Director could not believe her ears when Z agreed. She refrained from shouting that it was a coup; she had some dignity to save after all. "Will, you are making the biggest mistake in your life," she said instead.

Will seemed to ignore her. "Are you willing to come voluntarily or should I officially arrest you?"

Dr. Director stood up straight. "You will not get away with this, but for now I'll let you have it how you think you want it. Lead the way."

As she followed Will after he called for two more agents to escort her, Betty could only hope that someone would come to her aid.

"_Kim… Team Possible, if you are anywhere nearby, make sure you don't get caught up in this."_

* * *

_**Somewhere on an island in the Pacific:**_

Ron lay on the beach sand with his hands behind his head. Kim's head rested on his stomach as they both enjoyed the sunset while the music played from the car stereo. The Sloth's sophisticated jamming device made sure that no one, not even Wade, would be able to find them, so they could enjoy this time together before the madness of the world caught up with them.

_It's been a long road  
__Getting from there to here  
__It's been a long time  
__But my time is finally near_

Kim smiled, took Ron's hand and squeezed it gently.

_And I can feel the change in the winds right now  
__Nothing's in my way  
__And they're not gonna hold me down no more  
__No they're not gonna hold me back_

_Cause I've got faith of the heart  
__I'm going where my heart will take me  
__I've got faith to believe  
__I can do anything  
__I've got strength of the soul  
__And no one's gonna bend or break me  
__I can reach any star  
__I've got faith  
__I've got faith  
__Faith of the heart_

Words were not needed here; the teens were perfectly content to enjoy the music in silence.

_It's been a long night  
__Trying to find my way  
__Been through the darkness  
__Now I finally have my day  
__And I will see my dreams come alive at last  
__I will touch the sky  
__And they're not gonna hold me down no more  
__No they're not gonna change my mind_

_Cause I've got faith of the heart  
__I'm going where my heart will take me  
__I've got faith to believe  
__I can do anything  
__I've got strength of the soul  
__And no one's gonna bend or break me  
__I can reach any star  
__I've got faith  
__Faith of the heart_

_I've known a wind so cold and seen the darkest days  
__But now the winds I feel, are only winds of change  
__I've been through the fire and I've been through the rain  
__But I'll be fine_

_Cause I've got faith of the heart  
__I'm going where my heart will take me  
__I've got faith to believe  
__I can do anything  
__I've got strength of the soul  
__And no one's gonna bend or break me  
__I can reach any star  
__I've got faith  
__I've got faith of the heart  
__I'm going where my heart will take me  
__I've got strength of the soul  
__And no one's gonna bend or break me  
__I can reach any star  
__I've got faith  
__I've got faith  
__Faith of the heart_

_It's been a long road._

**END** of the first story.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. As you may have noticed, the tale does not end here, there will be many more adventures to come for Kim and Ron. I hope that it won't take me too long to post the first chapter of the next story in what is now becoming my first arc.


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